Mission Nebulous
by Jetzul
Summary: The Kriken Empire is beginning to pose as a serious threat, and the Federation decided to send their most elite warriors to find their secret plans, and expose the Empire's weakness, as well as destroying the Emperor himself. The rest of the summary is inside. Some IanxSamus in later chapters. Rated T to be safe. Some OCs.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, this is****my first real metroid story. And I only played the DS game, prime hunters. So my knowledge in the game is limited. If you find some things that aren't supposed to be the way they are, just write it down in a PM, or in the review.**

**Just to add to the summary, the story takes place when Samus is still part of the Galactic Federation military, but takes place a little after Gorea's death. The Kriken Empire is growing, and is beginning to be a serious threat to the Galactic Federation. Commander Adam decides to create a small legion, composed of seven people-excluding him-and is going to attempt to find a way to destroy the Empire.**

**New characters-characters I made up-are going to make their prescence in this fanfic.**

**This first chapter is just a prologue. It's a part of the story that hasn't taken place yet, but will occur later on. **

**Well with that great note, ENJOY!  
**

_Samus looked around. The room was pitch-black, making her eyes useless. She switched to night-visor, but some interference was buzzing, giving the helmet a hard time to adjust. _

_A shriek was heard._

_Samus spun around, her arm cannon raised, ready to blast whatever was in the room with her. Silence fell again, and the darkness covered whatever happened. _

_Samus heard her radio crackle to life. Anthony's strong voice helped her control the threatening panic growing within her. "Everything's all right princess?"_

_Samus looked around the dark room. "Um…I dunno. I'm trapped in some dark room. Some help would be appreciated."_

_"Just tell me your location, and we'll be with you."_

_"I'm in the-"_

_A loud screech interrupted her. The hard deck plate she was standing on shook violently, nearly causing her to fall over. Samus looked around. A pair of yellow eyes appeared in the darkness._

_There was another loud shriek, as an explosion lit the whole room for a moment, giving Samus the time to see her attacker. _

_As soon as she saw him, her courage failed. Screaming in fear, she tried to scramble to safety, but the beast grabbed her, and took flight. After reaching a certain height, he threw her onto the ground._

_Samus hit the ground. Another explosion occurred, lighting the room for a second time. She just had time to see Ridley make an offensive dive towards her, before darkness engulfed the room again…_

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	2. Chapter 2

**Okay. Thanks for the reviews those who left me one! I'm grateful! Here's the first chapter! **

**As I mentioned before, I have little knowledge on the Metroid adventures. Most of the weapons present will be from the Metroid Prime Hunters game.**

The sniper's weapon is the 'imperialist'. You'll see that it's called the 'red stain' in the prophecy.

**ENJOY!**

Commander Adam looked up from his document, and put his pen down. He turned to look at the small frame that rested on his desk. Ian was grinning, making a peace sign, his arm around a confused and slightly irritated Samus. A young Commander Adam was looking up from a document, wondering what they were doing.

Adam smiled at the memory. He looked back at the document he was busy working one. Scanning it quickly, he signed at the bottom. He sighed, and looked up at the clock. Four thirty. Three hours had flown by so quickly.

Climbing to his feet, he walked towards the large window that stood behind his desk, giving him a majestic view on the capital of the Galactic Federation, Daiban.

Watching it sometimes helped him clear his head. The golden rays of light, the small transports winking in the distance and the enormous skyscrapers that reached the sky, Adam found it breathtaking.

He stared at it for while, when he heard a knock on his door. He morphed his face into the stone, emotionless one, the true face of a leader. "Come in." he said.

The door opened, to reveal a small, green alien. He wore large black clothing, and was standing on a lavational board. Commander Adam immediately saluted. "Chairman Keaton."

The leader of the Galactic Federation answered his salute with a nod. "I'm here for the recruitment documents you prepared."

Adam walked up to his desk, and pulled one of his drawers. He pulled out a yellow folder, and handed it to him. "Here. We've got a good number of rookies. Some of them may prove to be a good bonus."

"Thank you Commander." The alien began going through the papers. Adam wondered the real reason why Keaton had come to meet him. The Chairman never left the senate, unless he had something important to tell, or to order. He guessed that he was looking through the list of recruits for as an excuse for coming. Nevertheless, he remained quiet.

Keaton finally closed the folder. "Commander, I'd like to ask you something."

"I'm listening."

"Have you ever thought of becoming an Admiral?"

The question took Adam by surprise, though he revealed nothing. "No Keaton. I like my post. I want to keep battling by the side of my allies. I'm not fond of staying behind."  
Keaton nodded. "I see. But we could use a good admiral. You could fill up nicely. It's well paid, and you'll still be able to stay in contact with some of your…fighters."

Adam noted that Keaton had chosen the word 'fighters' than 'men'. He was aware of the fatherly bonds he held with Samus. Clearly he didn't want to break them.

Adam shook his head. "I thank you for the offer, I'm not interested."

Keaton nodded for a second time. He looked back at the folder. "Commander, I'd like you to check on these recruits. Even if Zebes has finally been destroyed, and the Space Pirates have disbanded, there are still threats out there. The more people we have in the military, the better."

"Of course."  
"Thank you." Keaton turned to walk away, but stopped. "Oh, and Commander? I think it'd be better if you made a quick stop to Weryah."

Adam raised an eyebrow. "Why? It isn't in trouble is it?"

"No. But there is a small strike taking place. I'd like you to clear it up for me. I was planning on sending Colonel Qannik, but he's already busy keeping the FD-32 in order, which pretty much leaves you."

Adam nodded. "Consider it done. I'll deal with them."  
"Thank you." He turned and walked away. Before shutting the door, he turned to the Commander. "Commander."

"Chairman." Adam saluted. He held it until the alien had left the room. When the door shut, he walked back behind his desk, and picked up his cap, and placed it on his head.

Weryah…that wasn't too far. He should be done with this job by tonight if he did a proper and quick job.

After checking he had everything he needed, he left, closing the door firmly behind him.

* * *

Anthony looked through the glass of the training center. Eight trainees were battling, each battling NPC characters, and each other.

He wasn't the man in charge of the training, but nevertheless, he stayed present. He liked to see how the rookies fought. Despite their lack of experience, some of them managed to come up with some interesting strategies. Watching them gave him ideas how to battles serious enemies in real life. Not to mention ways to fight his friend and rival Samus.

The small training center was taking place in a barren desert, with large pillars placed in some random areas.

Weapons, munitions and energy spheres had been placed in order to see how long the recruits lasted.

Three fighters, two live and one NPC were locked in a serious close range battle. Anthony silently wondered which one was finally going to get out of it alive.

All of a sudden, a thick red beam struck one in the chest, instantly vaporizing him.

The two remaining fighters stopped their battle, and watched in shock the empty place where their enemy once stood.

A second later, taking both fighters as well as Anthony by surprise, a second fighter was vaporized the same way with the same weapon.

But this time, Anthony followed the trail of the red stain, and saw a fighter crouching on one of the pillars, carefully taking aim.

The third fighter panicked. Firing mostly to try to confuse the sniper than kill him, he bolted behind a wall.

He seemed to warn the others of the deadly sniper. The remaining six fighters seemed to have made a temporary alliance, the time they killed the sniper. They fired all their weapons, missiles, power beams, voltars, judicators, hyper beams, but the sniper was too distant and too small for making an accurate target.

Two more fighters were vaporized on the spot, killed by the sniper's deadly accuracy.

At last the sniper was hit. The fighter jumped off the pillar. He landed on his feet, and instantly charged at the group, his canon charged with a weapon Anthony guessed was the missile launcher.

The four remaining fighters ran to meet him. Just at the connection of the lone warrior and the allied trainees, was an explosion, and dust covered the battlefield.

Anthony thought for a moment. A small smile grew on his face. Whether the sniper lost or won, he didn't care. It looks like the Federation got their hands on a small prodigy.

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	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, the next chapter is out. Thank you for the reviews everyone! I know some of you went through dA or my PM, but I'm saying thanks here!**

I'm writing as fast as I can, and if things go as I hope, there should be a chapter out every two or three days. But you know how parents are with computers. So annoying...

**And as a promise to VocaloidLives4life, there WILL be Ianmus in later chapters, and I will include Damara (I was planning on adding her anyway...). I've got some good ideas thanks to a few friends on dA, so if, beginning in the next chapter, you see some ideas that are similar to yours (right now, there are 2), be honored, I have been inspired by you!**

Okay, sorry for boring you all. LET'S ROLL!

I don't own Metroid...do I even have to tell you guys this?

Adam got up from his chair, and walked to the front of the ship, watching the view the cockpit gave. "How long till we reach our destination?"

The pilot pressed a few buttons before replying. "We should be arriving within an hour."

Adam made no reply. Weryah. Adam knew the planet very well. It was a small agricultural planet which joined the Federation only a little while ago, after suffering a close call with the Space Pirates. Clearly, the strike was due to the fact that the inhabitants still weren't used to the laws imposed.

"We are arriving sir."

Adam stopped thinking about the planet, and looked back at the view. A small, green planet had appeared. Not much of a threat. Adam almost smiled. This was going to be easier than he had anticipated. He opened his mouth to order the pilot to land, when something-or rather someone-spoke to him.

'_Don't trust your senses…They deceive you…_'

The whisper came to him as a warning. It sounded like a wave rolling on a sandy beach, but a lot louder.

Adam stood there, both shocked and confused, though the expressions were hidden behind his stone-cold face. He had heard that language before. Ever since Samus liberated the remains of their Empire from the monster, the extinct race-now living as telepathic energy-stood with the Federation, warning them when danger was near.

Adam narrowed his eyes. The Amblics only spoke to Samus and the Chairman. If ever they were talking to him, this was not good.

* * *

Adam walked onto the podium. Keeping his eyes on the silent crowd who was watching him intently, hoping for an explanation for the rules they did not agree with. After giving his microphone a few taps to see if it worked properly, he opened his mouth, and started to talk, his voice projected by the microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen…"

* * *

_The boney warrior hissed. Hiding in the shadows, protected by its temporary cloaking ability, it carefully took aim. _

_The Commander was about to die…_

* * *

A bodyguard scanned the crowd intently, half expecting someone to jump out and try to kill the commander. Trying to relieve a part of his stress, he looked up, admiring the bright blue sky. His random gaze brought him staring at the vegetation, the trees that surrounded the small town where Commander Adam had chosen to land in order to explain.

He watched the greenery, carefully, wondering why the Federation didn't want any built on Daiban. It would make it look a lot better.

One of the branches moved.

The bodyguard raised his eyebrow. Sure the wind was beginning to pick up, but this branch moved as though it was pushed.

Suddenly, a tiny red sphere appeared in the forest, and disappeared almost instantly.

Curious, he went back to his 'super-attentive-active-and-sexy' mode, he watched the small woods with infinite care.

Suddenly, a boney figure appeared between the trees. It raised what seemed to be a large gun.

"LOOK OUT!"

The bodyguard tackled Commander Adam, just as a small beam smashed into the area where he had been standing.

Screams began to rise, as the crowd panicked.

The other bodyguards opened fire in the direction where the beam came from.

The bullets pierced the leaves, and soon, an ear-splitting screech was heard. Something clattered out of the trees, and into the clearing.

People gathered around it, muttering between one another. The bodyguard released Commander Adam, and with a few of his fellow workers, walked to the attacker.

The attacker was bright red, and was very boney. With sharp ends, it was bipedal and had a large, floating head, with a single eye.

Commander Adam inspected it carefully behind the bodyguard. His eyes narrowed.

"What is this thing?" someone from the crowd asked.

Commander Adam took a while before answering. "A Kriken."

* * *

Adam walked out of his ship, as he arrived back at the Galactic Federation Headquarters. He was instantly met by both Chairman Keaton and Admiral Dane. No doubt they were worried for him when they heard there had been an attempt on his life, but Adam silently wondered why they weren't used to it yet. After all, the Space Pirates have led a good number of terrorist attacks-which, thank god, usually failed.

"Commander Adam. It's good to see you back in one piece." Chairman Keaton said, clearly relieved.

"It was a close call." Adam answered. He looked around. Several pilots and mechanics were walking around, and some of them seemed interested in knowing what the trio was saying. The commander turned back to the Chairman and the Admiral. "I think it would be best if we talked about this in my office. I've got some…interesting things to say."

Admiral Dane looked confused, but realized the reason when a mechanic bumped into him. "Let's go then."

* * *

Adam sat down on his chair, after giving two more to the other leaders. For some reason, he felt relieved to be back in his office again.

Keaton spoke first. "You said that you had some interesting things to say."

Adam nodded. "First, on my way to Weryah, I was relatively confident about the mission. After all, these strikes are usually easy to calm."

"So?" Admiral Dane said. "I doubt you wanted to tell us that."

Adam nodded. "I was busy thinking that, when I heard something. You know the amblics? Even if they are extinct, they are still with us. They've become telepathic energy-essence I think they call it."

"So?"

"They spoke to me, warning me of the attempt."

Adam knew that his words were responsible of the shock written on the leaders' faces.

"Strange that they have not spoken to me." Keaton muttered. "After all, they usually send messages through me and Samus." His eyes narrowed. "This is most unusual…" He seemed to think for a moment, but he gestured at Adam to continue.

"The second thing is my assassin." Adam added. He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. "It wasn't any kind of creature. It was a Kriken. No doubt from the Kriken Empire."

Dane's eyes went wide. He stood up violently. "You cannot be serious. A Kriken? They wouldn't…they couldn't…" Seeing the Commander's stone cold face, he sat back down. "They tried to get at you. Clearly this is a declaration of war. We must answer back. I will-"

Keaton's gaze silenced him. "We will do nothing." Ignoring the Admiral's shocked face, he turned to Adam. "We cannot attack head on. They're too powerful." He told both of them. "For now, I will try to make diplomacy prevail. Commander, I want you to check on the recruits. In case I fail to negotiate, I want the most experienced fighters ready. Who do we have so far?"

Adam opened a drawer, and pulled out a folder. Running through the papers, he finally tugged out a bright orange one. "Let's see. We have Anthony Higgs, our famous Samus Aran, Peter Wend, Callin Teguin, and Aries Kella. These are pretty much our most valued bounty hunters and warriors."

Keaton seemed to think. "It's not enough to make a complete legion. We need at least eight I believe."

Adam answered with a nod. "I'll check the recruits and see if any will be able to join us. In the meantime, it would be best that Admiral Dane deals with the fleet, and you, as mention, try to negotiate-though I doubt it will be of much use."

Keaton stood up. "I agree with what you said Commander. It will be our plan of action. Wish us all good luck."

Admiral Dane, clearly not in agreement, made a sarcastic salute, before storming out the room, and slamming the door behind him.

Keaton sighed. He began to leave, but stopped when he reached the door. "Commander, just so you know, I got a quick briefing from Mr. Higgs. It looks like we have somehow caught a small prodigy."

Adam raised an eyebrow. He made no answer, but Keaton could tell that he was very interested. "I'll pass by the training center later." The Commander said, before saluting.

* * *

Adam walked in the training center. He wanted to check on the 'prodigy' Keaton had told him about.  
The metal doors slid open automatically, allowing him to pass. His entrance caused everyone to turn, and instantly stand and salute. Dismissing them with a wave of his hand, he walked up to the window where the training took place in a 'virtual reality' world.

The fighters would enter some cylinders, which would seal them from the real world, and project their minds into the 'virtual reality'. The trainees would experience the pain they would receive and would feel the pressure as if they were fighting in the real world. When one of the fighters would be dead, his mind would be zapped back to his body, and he would be released from the cylinder.

He was glad to see Anthony standing in front of it, his arms crossed. "Hello Anthony." Adam said, as he glanced at the training grounds.  
The battle was taking place in a large battle field, with several pits of cold water, and a few high pillars of stone stood.

Anthony nodded respectively. "Hello sir. What are you doing here?"

Adam scanned the field, and saw a small battle taking place between a few trainees. None of them seemed to be very experienced, as they missed opportunities and made huge mistakes without knowing it. "I've heard about a gifted rookie. Where is he?"

Anthony blinked. He looked at the edges of the battlefield, before pointing at the top of a pillar. "There."

Adam followed his gaze and eventually saw someone. Unlike the other fighters who wore Federation Trooper armor, blackish-blue armor, this one had a dark green armor, which looked similar to Samus's minus to the huge spheres on the shoulders, and the arm canon was clearly thicker and larger. There were also some pointed edges on the top of his right hand, the canon less one. Adam wondered what they were for.

"Why isn't he wearing a Federation uniform armor?" Adam asked. "I thought that the recruits were obliged to have marine suits."

Anthony shifted, clearly uncomfortable. "I don't know the details sir, but I think it improves his fighting abilities far better than without it. And, it's like Samus. The suit means a lot to him. Either he joins and fights with it, or he just leaves. We can't lose him sir. He's just too gifted."

Adam made no reply. He watched the battle. So far, the boy was crouching still, watching the battle rage between the other fighters. '_Time to see what this boy can do_.' He thought to himself.

The boy stayed still, making no action. Suddenly, he fired a thick red beam, instantly vaporizing one of the fighters. The victim never knew what hit him.

The three other fighters looked shocked at the sudden death of the marine. However, they quickly recovered, and fired at the sniper, but at such a distance, all the shots went wide.

The sniper fired a second beam, vaporizing another recruit. "That was because you were ugly." The sniper said.

Adam raised an eyebrow at the comment, but said nothing.

The sniper fired another Imperialist beam, hitting the third one in the chest. The fighter's arrival on the field was as glorious as his demise. "That was because you were stupid."

The last fighter panicked, and tried to run behind a rock for safety, but the sniper struck him in the back of the neck. "The list is so big that it's pointless to try and pick a problem." The sniper finished playfully.

Adam gave Anthony an emotionless, stone cold, and accusing stare. The man shifted uncomfortably. "Um…being a prodigy doesn't mean he isn't a joker, right?"

The Commander continued to stare, before he turned back to the window. "I admit that he has interesting sniping skills, but what does he have to do with being a prodigy?"

Anthony smiled. "Just to test him, I challenged him."

"And?"

"Well, he won."

Adam looked in shock at Anthony. This time, the mask did not cover it. "A rookie beat you? Seriously?"

Anthony continued to smile. "I didn't say he was a prodigy for nothing."

Adam thought for a while. "How did he beat you?"

"Sorry?"

"Did he struggle? Or was it just beginner's luck?"

Anthony took a while to answer. "I guess it was a mix of both, sir. But trust me, he's got skill. I think...I think he can use them to his fullest when he's really

trying his hardest."

"Who is he?"

Anthony opened a small portable computer placed before him. After pressing a few buttons and scrolling down a number of people, he finally found the boy. "His name is Lhikan, human race. He's sixteen and comes from the planet Aipotu, a very small planet with no significant means. He's got good sniping skills, but excels with missiles, power beams and the voltare." He looked at Adam. "He's also a close friend of Damara, one of our recruits who also has potential."  
Despite the lack of words, Anthony knew that Commander Adam was thinking hard. He could also have sworn that he saw his gears actually spinning.

At last, Adam spoke. "Call Samus. If this boy is truly as skilled as you claim, then we got to push him to the limit."

Anthony blinked. "But sir, Samus is an elite, and he's just a-"

Adam's glare was enough to silence him. "If he beat you, there's a chance he'll hold against Samus. Do it."

Anthony nodded. "Yes sir."

**REVIEW! REVIEWS MAKE ME HAPPY!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, next chapter is out. I added Damara as promised. So yeah, I hadn't expected the chapter to be so long...I hope you all enjoy it.**

**SAMUS HAS ARRIVED! :D**

I don't own Metroid, but I do own this story.

"Look, I admit that the idea is crazy, but it's Commander Adam's orders. And you know how we love to disobey Commander Adam." Anthony said.

He was following a beautiful, blond haired girl who was in her twenties. Her bluish-green eyes shined brightly, but this time they were glaring.

"I don't care about the orders! You know how I hate rookies! They're such a pain! They think they're awesome when they can't do a thing." Samus fired back.

Anthony nodded. "I know princess. But don't worry; this guy is seriously a good fighter. You'll enjoy yourself. "

"He'd better, or else I'm blasting you down a blind hyperspace path. And he'll wish he was never born." Samus said.

"You mean Commander Adam right?"

"Him too." Samus added. "Come on. Let's see your star." She entered the training center, followed by Anthony.

* * *

Samus looked around the room, where a few fighters were talking between one another. Some of them even seemed to be passing some credits between them.

Samus looked at Anthony for an explanation. He just shrugged. "Probably bets on who's going to get lose. Just so you know, I'm betting for you princess."

Samus frowned. He hadn't used her term to describe her confrontations with trainees. Originally, it'd be 'busted' or 'annihilated'. Not the simple 'lose'. She simply shrugged. "I'll crush him." She promised herself.

She saw Commander Adam, and walked towards him. "Adam, what's this big idea about me fighting a rookie?" Since Samus and Adam shared a father/daughter relationship, Samus had stopped saluting to him and stopped calling him 'sir'. However, whenever there was an important meeting, she would act to him like any other soldier.

Adam looked at her. "The boy has great potential. I was hoping you'd help him…exploit the very best of him."

"He's still a rookie. I can't stand him."

"Rookie or not, friend or not, you're fighting him. And just so you know, his skills are great." Adam pointed discreetly to a small table next to the cylinders. A couple of marines and recruits were placing credits, and putting them in the middle, stacked with another small pile formed by another table. "Some people here are actually putting bets against you." He whispered.

Samus looked at Adam, then back at the table. "Okay. The rookie's dead. He's not getting away with this. Get the cylinders ready. I'm gonna wipe the floor with him."

Adam nearly smiled. Ever since Samus had been victim of a 'flirt assault' by a trainee, she couldn't stand the sight of recruits. Nevertheless, he stopped her from leaving, and dragged her gently towards her opponent.

"Samus, this is Lhikan, your opponent in this fight. Lhikan, this is our most elite fighter, Samus. I'd like you to battle her in order to test your skills."

Samus looked at the boy in question. He was unusually tall, dark brown hair with brown eyes which glinted with a childish personality. He had a playful grin on his face, magnifying his friendly nature.

His appearances only made Samus angrier. Not only he was younger-Anthony had told her he was sixteen-but he didn't look like the dangerous type, more like the playful joker and everyday guy she saw walking down the corridors.

Adam spoke again, this time to both of them. "You are allowed to use any kind of methods and weapons at your disposal. Energy spheres will be placed in certain areas-though you will only be able to grab up to three of them maximum. Now get in your cylinders."

Samus shot Adam a look of betrayal, but the older man pointly ignored it.

"Good luck."

Samus looked at Lhikan. He had his hand half-raised, ready to shake her hand. The blond simply glared at him, and turned, muttering "You'll be needing it…"

* * *

Lhikan was surprised by the sudden action. He started to wonder if trying to befriend her was a bad idea.

Shrugging, he turned and walked to his cylinder. A small smile formed on his face. Fighting the most powerful soldier in the Federation? So cool! If only his friends and mentor were here…god they would be proud.

He lay on the soft texture in his cylinder, grinning in eagerness of the upcoming fight.

Someone tapped him on the head. Looking up, Lhikan saw Anthony giving him a thumbs up.

"Good luck. I just thought you'd want it." He said. "Even I'm nothing compared to Samus."

Lhikan grinned. Ever since he had met Anthony, they had both become immediate friends. "I sure will. Thanks buddy."  
"Lhikan." Adam's strong voice hit him like a rock. Lhikan and Anthony looked at the Commander. "No jokes for once."

Lhikan seemed to think. "No promises." He finally said, before activating his cylinder, not daring to look at the Commander's face again. The lid closed, and Lhikan lay calmly down. "Show time."

* * *

Samus felt her mind go blank, and soon, she found herself standing in the middle of a large plain, covered with small pits of lava and some large chunks of rocks. Raising her arm canon, she looked around. Anthony had said that Lhikan was a good sniper. That meant that he would be far from her, avoiding her for a while. Missiles should be able to scare him out.

She switched to missile launcher, and began charging. Running to the nearest jump pad, she glanced around. Finding nothing she simply stepped on it, and flew in the air, giving a good look on her surroundings.

Nothing.

Samus growled with frustration. "Come and fight me you coward!"

The boy answered almost instantly. "I'll fight you when I'm good and ready. In the meantime, keep running." He finished his sentence with a cheeky tone, and Samus knew that if she showed anymore irritation, she'd end up being an easy target for him, since she would be paying less attention to her surroundings.

She jumped off the ledge, and ran towards a rock. Looking around, she thought she saw something lying on the ground. Transforming into Morph Ball, she rolled towards it, and realized it was a missile recharge.  
Samus shrugged. Why not? The more missiles, the more she could blast him.  
She barely grabbed the missile that Lhikan's voice could be heard again. "Ah! The woman's got a missile!"  
Samus stood still, wondering if she had heard correctly what the boy just said. "In case you forgot, my name is-"

"THE WOMAN'S GOT A MISSILE AND REFUSES TO TAKE HER MEDICATION!"

"That's it. You're dead." Samus promised, wondering how in the world this…guy, could be their prodigy.

Keeping her eyes peeled, she scanned the field carefully. "Come out and fight me!" she cried again. "Tell me where you are!"  
"I won't tell you…I'll show you!"

A thick red beam flew across the battlefield, and struck Samus in the chest, making her stagger. On the top right corner of her visor, she could see that her armor had reached the critical zone.

Racing across the battle field, she fired a homing missile, which rammed into the place where the sniper was crouching.  
"Wah!"

She heard the yelp of the boy, telling her that her attack had hit its mark.

Grabbing an energy sphere, she spun around, and raced towards the area where the sniper had once been.

"Let's finish this!" she cried.

* * *

Lhikan took the missile head on, and took some pretty serious damage. "Dammit." He gritted his teeth. He had missed his chance to make a headshot kill, but did not panic.

Jumping out of his hiding spot, he began charging his missiles, and ran at Samus. He smiled. "You want a close combat? Well here I come!"

The green armored boy leveled his canon, took aim, and fired, while diving out of the way, staying just out of Samus's firing range, but he stayed wary of her missiles.

He fired again. He needed to think of a way to take her down.

* * *

Samus saw Lhikan dodging her missiles, and instantly knew what he was doing. He was trying to keep her busy while he looked for a weak spot. Well that wasn't going to happen.

Switching to Power Beam, she began firing weaker shots at a very fast rate.

The speed clearly took Lhikan by surprise, who was beginning to take some minor, but continuous damage. He began to fall back, shooting his own Power Beams, mostly to keep her jumping around in order to make aiming difficult.

Samus suddenly switched back to her missile launcher, and fired a missile, hitting the boy in the back, projecting him forward. He hit the ground hard, and lay still.

Samus smiled. Okay, he did last longer than she had expected, but that was because he was hiding in a sniping area. But she did give him credit for his sniping skills.

Walking over to the motionless boy, she switched to Power Beam, and charged. She was going to finish him nice and slowly.  
She walked up, till she looked down at him. She raised her arm canon so it was pointing at his visor. She could already hear the beam penetrating the armor of the boy. "Nice fighting you."

Suddenly, something happened. Either Lhikan had found Samus's weak spot, or Samus had been too slow, but Lhikan yelled "NOW!" And made an incredible twisting movement.  
Pushing himself with his arm, he kicked the air, and hit Samus on the helmet with the back of his foot. He then started spinning around, kicking in a circle, spinning with the support of his arms, his legs ramming into her armor, damaging her armor significantly.

One kick was violent enough to kick her out of the attack. Samus quickly recovered from the shock and checked her energy bar. The stupid surprise attack had drained her of a third of her energy.  
Blades.

Lhikan had tiny blades on the soles of his feet. It was the only possible explanation.

Despite herself, Samus had to admit, she was impressed. He was quick and agile, but it wasn't enough to stop her.

Lhikan jumped on his feet. His canon switched onto Missile launcher and charging, he ran towards Samus, yelling "DIE!"

Samus grinned. Finally he decided to attack. But she soon realized the attack. Lifting her canon out of the way, she tried to dodge.

Lhikan crashed into her, firing his missile at the same time. A huge cloud of dust was caused by the explosion, and Lhikan skidded out of it on the other side. "And that is how you do it!" He cried, clearly proud of his attack. "Just when we made contact, I fired a missile. Carried by the momentum, there is no way you can survive that attack. The only downside of the attack is the splash damage caused by the missile."

Lhikan watched the dust settle. His grin instantly disappeared.

Samus stood there, her arm on her hip, and her arm canon lying on her side. There was no sign of damage on her suit. Through the visor, Lhikan saw that she was smiling. "Interesting strategy. But it's not good enough I'm afraid."

Lhikan stood shocked for a moment. "W-what? No way! All right, one more time!"

The same attack occurred. Lhikan jumped out of the cloud of dust. "Did I get her this time?"

"Nope." Samus stood still, same position as before.

Lhikan gaped. "How…are you doing that?" Even if did survive the attack, the Power suit should've taken so much damage it wouldn't be able to stand anymore. And here Samus was, standing with barely a scratch. "One more time…"

The attack repeated. Same result. "GAAAHHH! I DON'T GET IT! WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Lhikan cried in frustration, throwing his arms in the air. Suddenly, sparks erupted from a shoulder, and his suit began to creak unnaturally. "Dammit…I've been taking too much splash damage…"

Samus saw him glare through the visor, but it was half ruined by the grin on his face. Wait…was he actually enjoying this battle even if he was losing? Samus began to question her sanity when Lhikan rose back up to his full height. "I'm coming in for one last attack Samus! Ready!" He charged, his missile powered up. "HERE I COME!"  
Samus grinned. "I'LL MEET YOU THERE!"  
Both fighters ran towards one another, and began blasting at each other at close range. Missiles flew around them, as both gladitorians fought ruthlessly, like two tanks battling at ten paces. Lhikan jumped sideways, slowly nearing Samus, who fired her weapons non-stop.

"LAST ATTACK!" Lhikan cried, ducking under the projectiles, ad racing at Samus. He made his last desperate attempt to defeat her. Samus lowered her arm canon, but she never had time to shoot. Lhikan, now at her feet, jumped, shooting upwards. "TAKE THAT!" he cried pushing Samus in the air, firing his missile. The weapon streaked towards her.

Samus grinned. "All right, I'll give you credit. You really are a good fighter, but you're still no match for me."

Lhikan's eyes went wide. "What?"

Samus glowed, and transformed into her Morph Ball. Using her boost to fly in the same direction in the air, she allowed herself to get hit.

Still in her alt form, she hit the ground, and changed back into her real form. "My secret: I used the alt mode to go in the same direction as your attack. This cancelled out all the momentum and power of them missile. So all I took was the splash damage of your attack."

Lhikan, who had also been blown in the air, looked down in shock. "N-no way!"

Samus raised her arm canon. "See you back at the training center." She said, as she fired a charged power beam, which hit him in the back. The already damage armor gave in to the beam, and the deadly attack hit the boy, ending him.

* * *

Back in the training center, everyone was silent. The first cylinder opened, and revealed a sweating and panting Lhikan.

The second one opened, and Samus climbed out of it. Both fighters looked at each other for a moment. Samus turned, and walked away without uttering a word, followed by Anthony.

Lhikan watched her leave and was about to follow, when Commander Adam stood in his way, staring down at him. "You have some explaining to do." He said in a monotonous voice.

Lhikan grinned sheepishly. Either he was going to be busted for disobeying Commander Adam, or he was going to be slaughtered for losing against a girl.

After some thought, he decided the most possible reason.

You guessed it.

The first one.

* * *

Samus walked swiftly down the corridors, ignoring the people around her.

"Wait up princess!" Anthony caught up with the girl. "You beat him." He commented.

Samus raised an eyebrow. "Do you really doubt my skills?"

Anthony shook his head. "No. There was just a moment…I thought you were going to lose. Especially when he kicked you away. He got the upper hand there."

Samus blew a strand of hair out of her face. "Pfft. He was easy."

Anthony looked at her, his eyebrows raised. He stared so intently that Samus shivered. "Okay." She admitted. "He got me in trouble once or twice, and he was worth my time."

Anthony broke his gaze. He smiled. "At least you admit it." He looked around. "Though, did you notice something weird? His fighting looks somewhat familiar."

Samus nodded. "I thought the same thing too. He fights with his limbs…Hey have you noticed something? His armor has some tiny claws at the ends of his arms and legs. What do you think they're for?"

Anthony shrugged. "Close combat for sure, but he's more of a sniper. He only attacks in close combat when absolute need to, like he did for you."

Samus did not reply to the comment. "But I still think he's unfit for the military."

Anthony looked at her as if she was insane. "Give up such a skilled fighter? You gotta be kidding."

Samus shook her head. "He's a joker. He'll get himself killed. You know, lack of seriousness."

Anthony thought. "I don't know…sure he's a little immature, but he probably gets serious when there is the need."

Samus was about to reply, when a black haired girl caught her attention. "Damara! You're here!"

The girl in question spun around, and beamed at the sight of the blond. "Samus!"

They hugged each other laughing. Samus looked up and down at her. "Wow Damara! You've grown so much! You're almost my size!"

Damara blushed at the comment. "Thank you…what are you doing here?"

"I was on my way to the cafeteria with Anthony. Want to come?"

Damara nodded. "Who's he?" talking to the tall man watching the scene, his eyebrow raised, wondering whether he should be happy or angry about the sudden lack of attention.

Samus turned to Anthony. She smiled apologetically. "Oops. Sorry Anthony. Anthony, this Damara. Damara, this is Anthony. Now that the introductions are made, let's eat!"

Anthony got a good view of the girl. Damara was beautiful girl in her teen years. She had black hair with dark brown eyes. She seemed shy, but nevertheless, kind.  
"Oh, and one thing Anthony." Samus said. Anthony smiled, knowing what she was about to say. "You're paying. Gallantry. The thing that boys should show to all women."

Anthony rolled his eyes.

* * *

"So, when did you decided to join?" Samus asked Damara.

The trio had grabbed their lunch, and was sitting in a circular table in the cafeteria. As promised-or forced to-Anthony had paid for the food. To his relief, neither of the girls had bought anything expensive-save the chocolate doughnuts which turned out to be the only thing tasty in the meal.

Damara answered while poking the food with her fork. "Well, when I graduated from the academy, I wanted to try to do the same thing you did to me. I wanted to help other people. I went to the HQ, hoping that they would accept me. Commander Adam had me fight in the training center, and he…well I'm not sure what he thought, but it must've been good, because he didn't kick me out."

Samus nodded. "You'll notice that Adam will never say anything about skills or anything-unless you're a one-of-a-kind. Like me. Also, don't question him. Whatever he does, he's always doing the right decision."

"Yeah. He's a real leader. I wonder why he hasn't been promoted general or something…" Anthony agreed. "So what happened next?"

Damara shifted to a more comfortable position. "Well, since I wasn't kicked out, they placed me in the unit called KZ-33. There I met some new friends, namely Lhikan Hanusa-"

"Oh right, him." Samus rolled her eyes.

"You know him?"

"Well duh. Anthony-"

"Okay, what did I do this time?"

"Oh I don't know…having that great idea of speaking as if he's a god to the Chairman, who talked about him to Adam, who ordered me to fight him…you know, the obvious." Samus grinned playfully.

Damara's eyes widened. "Whoa! Lhikan actually fought you?"

"Yeah. He put me in a bad spot, but I still won. Important lesson: never EVER let a guy win. Or else, you'll have to stand him for the rest of your time here. You want proof? Anthony. And he cheated."

The man looked at Samus as if she were insane. "What? I fought fairly and won."

"Yeah right."

"Hey, pretending to fall into lava, and then pulling you down with me isn't cheating. It's strategy. Besides, I'm not the 'bad type', right?"

Samus looked at him as though she was analyzing him. "Point taken. But still Damara. No loses against boys. Or else you are DOOMED."

Damara looked uncomfortable. "Well…what if I already did?"

Samus looked at Damara. "Who beat you?"

Damara poised to answer, when a cheerful voice was heard. "Hey Damara! Got some friends you didn't introduce me to?"

The black haired girl beamed. "Hey Lhikan! No, you know them already, but still, wanna join us?"

The recruit joined the group at the table. "Oh hi Antony! And hi Samus!" He settled in between Anthony and Samus. He noticed the look Samus was giving him, and wondered whether it was shock, disbelief, depression, or simply a mix of all. Nevertheless, he said, "Look Samus, I know my looks are incredible, but can you please stop staring? It might ruin your…reputation of being single."

Anthony noticed the twitch in Samus's left eye. He silently gestured at Lhikan to stop being so cheeky by mouthing '_stop it_'

The boy caught the hint. "So," he said. "What were you all talking about?"

"Well, Samus was giving Damara some tips on living here…by the way what did Commander Adam do to you? I noticed that he held you off." Anthony said.

"Oh well," Lhikan scratched the back of his head, grinning sheepishly. "Commander Adam wasn't too happy about me disobeying him. He left me off the hook, since this is the first time, but he really, really didn't look happy."

"Too bad." Samus whispered to herself.

"But he said something about writing an inspection of the battle. Either I, or Samus had to do it." He snapped his fingers. "Sammy, could you write it please?"

Samus glared at Lhikan. "Sammy?"

Lhikan shifted. "Ah, well…Anthony calls you 'princess', Commander Adam calls you 'Lady', so I figured, why not?" Samus sent him a death glare, which clearly transmitted the message. '_Call me Sammy and die_'. Lhikan sweat dropped. "Well…can you write it anyway?"

"Give one good reason."

"Um…winners always give something to the losers?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No." Samus said it in a tone that meant no arguing.

Lhikan looked at Damara, who was fighting hard not to laugh, and then back at Anthony, who was watching the discussion, somewhat interested. He suddenly clapped his hands and pointed at Samus as though he had just figured something out. "I got it."

Samus arched an eyebrow. "What?"

"You can't write."

If looks could kill, Lhikan would've ceased to exist. "What did you say?"

"You can't write. That explains everything."

Samus looked at Lhikan, fighting hard not to hit him. "Of course I can."

"Then write the inspection." Lhikan had an innocent look on his face, making the situation much more hilarious for Anthony and Damara.

Samus stood up. "I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?" Lhikan asked,

"To get a pen and paper." With that, she stormed out of the cafeteria, leaving a quiet table behind her.

"That went easier than I thought." Lhikan said aloud. He reached out, and real casually, like he had been planning this all along, grabbed Samus's doughnut, and proceeded into eating it.

Damara couldn't take it anymore. She burst into peals of laughter, which made a domino effect with Anthony, who started cracking up.

Lhikan shrugged. "Those things are too expensive. I can't afford missing a prime opportunity."

"But seriously Lhikan," Anthony said. "You gotta be careful. Being a joker isn't a great idea."

Lhikan nodded. "I know. Commander Adam proved it. But there are times I just can't help it."

He was busy finishing the dessert, when Samus came back, holding a pen in one hand, and a piece of paper in the other. "All right. What do you want me to write?"

Lhikan thought. "Lhikan, the absolute ruler of-"

"Don't even start with this lame joke."

Lhikan laughed. "Okay. Just write down the oath and we'll be good."

Samus scribbled quickly on the paper, and shoved it in Lhikan's face. "Here. Satisfied?"

Lhikan read what was written. "Begging for forgiveness. I admit that I was wrong."

"Good." Samus said. She turned to her meal, and stopped. She looked back at Lhikan, and then at Anthony and Damara who were laughing like maniacs. "Wait…is that my doughnut you're eating?"

Lhikan finished the dessert. " 'fraid so. Diet time for you." He raced out of the cafeteria before Samus could do anything. "See ya later!"

* * *

Adam signed a signature on a document, when the door knocked, and Chairman Keaton entered. Adam instantly stood up and saluted. "Any luck with the negotiations?"

Keaton shook his head. "They attacked one of our colonies. We can't afford to sit around anymore. I'm afraid we'll have to declare war."  
Adam looked down at his desk. "We can't battle them head on. That's suicide. Is there any way we can attack them?"

Keaton thought. "We should try crossing the Zetra System. The Kriken Empire sends small ships there to send information and recourses to one another. If we could swipe one of those ships…then we might be able to infiltrate their territory and destroy them from the inside."

Adam thought. "I'll be taking Samus Aran, Anthony Higg, Lyle Smithsonian, Maurice Farveau, James Pierce, and I'll see whether I should take Lhikan Hanusa or not."

"The most skilled should go, I agree with you. But Mr. Hanusa…he isn't ready for this. Are you sure it's a good idea."

Adam's face darkened. "We'll see. I admit it's early, but the situation is critical. We can't launch a direct attack. We need to dodge for now. He's a good scout and his suit probably has some surprises."

Keaton stayed silent. "Very well. But make your decision quickly. I want you all gone tomorrow evening. Good night Commander."

**Well, that's it. Hope you enjoyed it. REVIEW!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 4 is out! The adventure has really started, and some minor Ianmus is present at the end of the chapter. Yeah, I failed to make a 'stone-cold emotionless' Adam, but you guys gotta know this, it's really hard to write a character who shows no emotions.**

**The briefing was also hard to write. I had to make Adam act like a real leader, which isn't easy. **

**Anyway, enjoy!**

Adam put a book in a small rectangular leather bag. Looking back at his desk, he made one last check in case he had forgotten something. Guns? Check. Suit? Those would be given to him. Documents regarding the mission? Already had them.

His eyes fell on a frame. He examined the picture of him, his brother and Samus in it. Should he take it? What if he lost it? Or it got ruined?

Adam sighed. He took the picture out of the frame, and carefully placed in between the documents.

He had lost his brother. The picture was all there was left of him. He'd keep it as a lucky charm.

He breathed out. That was all. Time to warn the soldiers about the departure.

* * *

Samus walked in the auditorium, and looked around, until she saw Anthony waving at her. She immediately walked towards him. "Hey big guy. Thanks for saving a seat for me."

Anthony smiled. "No problem princess." He waited for her to have sat down. "So, excited to go play galactic savior again?"

Samus laughed. "I don't know if I'm excited, but I am ready." She looked around. "So, who's joining us? Adam obviously, and who next?"

Anthony thought. "I'm not sure, but I know that there's our mechanic Lyle Smithsonian." He gave Samus a cheeky look. "And your new best friend. Lhikan Hanusa."

Samus's eyes went wide. "You're kidding right?"

Before Anthony could answer, Adam walked on the stage, holding a piece of paper in his hands. Ignoring the claps and cheers from the soldiers, pilots and mechanics, he walked towards the mike, and after giving a few tests by tapping his finger on it, he spoke to everyone present in the large auditorium.

"All right, I suppose you all know why you have been called here, but I'm going to give a reminder. The Kriken Empire has made a few terrorist attempts this past week. Chairman Keaton has tried the diplomatic approach, but has failed to open the negotiations with them. Therefore, there will be war between the Galactic Federation and the Kriken Empire.

Now we all know about the Kriken Empire's highly advanced technology on weapons, and the power in both numbers and intelligence. We can't attack them straight on. We'll send a small legion to try to infiltrate their base, and destroy them from the inside. Alongside with the unit, there will both an intelligence group and medical group, though they will be very small. We can't afford taking a large number of people."

"For our legion of soldiers, there will be, Captain Anthony Higgs"

Claps and cheers for the veteran soldier. Samus smiled at Anthony, who stood up.

"There will be our code breaker James Pierce."

A jet-black haired man with brown eyes got up, and was greeted was a chorus of back-slaps and laughs.

"Our mechanic and destructor, Lyle Smithsonian."

A blond boy with brown eyes got up too, clearly embarrassed by the claps he was receiving.

"Our all-round fighter; Maurice Farveau."

The French boy stood up, pride written on his face.

"Our famous rookie, efficient scout and sniper, Lhikan Hanusa"

The boy got up, uncomfortable with the cheers of his few friends, but his grin was always present. Anthony swore he heard Samus whisper "Crap." He fought hard not to laugh. '_Fail_' he thought.

"And finally, our most famous warrior here, Samus Aran."

Cheers and claps exploded, as Samus got up from her seat. Trying to put an emotionless face on, she watched Adam, who seemed to be watching her intently, a tiny glint in his eyes visible to her alone. Pride.

"And finally, I will lead the legion. We will depart within the next five hours." He stared at the crowd for a moment. "The rest of you will train and prepare for the war. Any question?"

A few hands were raised among the crowd.

"Kevin Darklight?" Adma said

"Will we be using the fleet sir? Once the mission is successful, will the Galactic Federation attack the disorganized army?"

Adam took a while to answer. "Our fleet will-so far-be inactive. If, by any chance we succeed in our mission, we will attack the army, now that they would be routed and disorganized. Anyone else?"

A hand was raised.

"Ton Zeela?"

"What if the mission fails? What happens after that?"

Adam stared at the man for a moment. "There won't be an 'after that'." A heavy silence fell over the audience. "Anyone else?"

There was no one else.

"Then let's get ready."

* * *

Samus clipped her bag shut. She hadn't taken much. Just her zero suit, a few extra clothes and the military uniform she was busy wearing. "Guess I'm all set."

Locking the door of her quarters, she began to wonder who would be present in the intelligence and medical sections. There couldn't be more than two or three members, since, like Adam had said, they couldn't bring too many people with them.

She also wondered what ship they were going to use. They wouldn't be able to use the Federation battle ships, obviously, so they'd have to steal one from the Kriken Empire. The only question was how.

She heard some laughing at the corner. Passing it, she saw Anthony, Lhikan, and Damara together.

"So, ready to whip so Kriken butt?" Lhikan asked Anthony.

"Ready. And you'd better be ready too. This is your first real mission too. You must've really impressed the Commander to have him ask you to join."

Lhikan smiled. "I had a great trainer..." he said. "He's still on Aipotu, after the last time I saw him." He turned to Damara. "And you're coming too. I'm surprised, which section do you belong to?"

Damara was holding a tiny animal in her arms. It seemed to be the mix of a rabbit and a squirrel, and was incredibly cute. The girl scratched the animal between the ears while answering. "I belong to the medical section. Sure I scratched the lowest level needed, but trust me; I got some good healing skills."

"We'll be counting on you then. Keep Lhikan's arms and legs attached to his body." Samus said

Everyone turned. "Samus!" Damara smiled hugely. "I heard you were coming too."

"Well duh. Someone has to babysit the army right?" Samus joked. "So, what were you guys talking about?"

Lhikan gasped. "Wow! Innovation! Samus is actually trying to start a conversation with me."

Samus glared at him. "I don't recall talking you too."

Lhikan flushed with embarrassment. "Whatever..." he muttered. He turned and walked away.

Samus blinked. She hadn't expected him to give up so easily. "So...who's our intelligence?"

Anthony sighed. "We have K.G. You know him."

"And?"

"Well, he's alone. Like Damara, who's our single medic. Oh, and do you know Damara's little pet, Pyonchi?" Anthony said, rubbing the animals' head.

Samus laughed. "He's my pet in the first place. After a bit of sniffing around, he eventually grew a huge liking to Damara."

Pyonchi, as to affirm that, jumped out of Damara's arms, and snuggled against Samus, making a content purring sound. Samus gently stroked his head. "So, I guess we'll be swiping a Kriken battle ship won't we?"  
Anthony nodded. "We will. We'll head towards the Zetra system, and stay covered till a small ship appears."

Pyonchi squeaked, and jumped out of Samus's arms. He ran towards the door, which opened soon after, revealing an emotionless Commander Adam wearing a Power Suit of the Platoon 7, the name of the squadron. The commander paid no interest in the furry little creature which stared up at him with huge, black eyes.

Anthony and Samus saluted. "We're all set sir." Anthony said.

Adam nodded. "Then let's go."

* * *

The journey took a good thirty minutes. The small legion had taken a small ship to the system, and left them in the small mining planet called Keelu. After the report of the spies, the Kriken Empire usually landed on the planet to refuel their ships.

Landing and hiding wasn't a problem. The dark blue atmosphere covered the Galactic Federation ship with ease, and the large forest kept the soldiers safe.

The theft would be difficult though. The city where the ships were parked was protected by a good number of soldiers.

The group crept up and watched a small city, bustling with activity. Samus shifted her grip on the trigger of the arm canon. The Krikens down there didn't seem to be expecting any assault.

Adam spoke. "Lhikan. Do you see any guards down there?"

Lhikan pressed a few buttons on his own arm canon, and took a small step forward. He scanned the city carefully. "I don't see anything." He looked back at the commander. "But they're probably hidden from view. I heard some stories about Krikens being capable of becoming invisible."

There was a pause. "What kind of sniping weapons do you have?" Adam asked.

"Just the Imperialist."

Through the helmet, Samus saw the man's features. She knew what he was thinking. The imperialist was a very powerful weapon, and the accuracy was deadly, but it took forever to charge, and it revealed the sniper's exact location. Using it now would be suicide.

"We will split up." Adam turned back to the group. "Lhikan, stay here. I want you to shoot the guards if ever we need cover. Anthony, take Maurice with you. I want you to scout the ships, and see if you can find a small corvette just for the mission. James and Lyle, you will come with me. We'll try to create a diversion by setting a timed Power Bomb. It should do enough damage to cause the people down there to investigate, leaving our goal empty." He finally turned to Samus. "Samus, I want you to go down there and try to take out as many Kriken guards as you can."

"Lhikan, you have the permission to use the Imperialist, but," Adam pointed a finger at Lhikan, showing his seriousness about the command. "Shoot only at my command. The Power beam and Freeze Guns are authorized. Missiles are to be used in only absolute necessary."

He gave one last look at the city, before finishing. "That's the end of the briefing." Everyone but Samus gave him the thumbs up. He turned to Samus. "Any objections Lady?"  
Samus gave him the thumbs down.

Adam nodded in approval. "Let's get going."

* * *

A trio had knelt near a power outlet, hidden in a small chamber. There had been no one protecting their sectors, and were planning on taking advantage of it.

Adam sat on his haunches, keeping an eye on his surroundings. "Lyle, start placing the Power Bombs. How long do you think it'll take to place them?"

Lyle stared carefully at the mechanism he had. "About ten minutes. How long should I set the timer?"

Adam planned his move carefully. "Put fifteen minutes. That should give us the time necessary to get out of the way." He looked at James. "James, do you think you can slice past the security to give time of departure of every ship?"

James nodded. "Yes sir."

"Do it. I want the name, the owner and the cargo of every ship in the vicinity." Adam put a finger on the side of his helmet, activating the comm system. "Lhikan, do you read me?"

"I read you Commander, five on five!" came the cheerful reply.

"Lhikan I want you to keep an eye on the troops for us. Warn us if anything odd comes this way. Hold your fire unless I say otherwise."  
"Gotcha. You can count on me Commander."

Adam ended the discussion. "Hurry up Lyle. James, did you get anything?"

"I got some interesting data sir." Adam walked up to him and knelt, eyeing the small laptop James was holding. "Most of the ships are heading for the Kriken Empire, and they contain mostly goods. There aren't many guards, but the crew is numerous. We'd have a hard time snatching control. But there are three ships that might prove themselves interesting. On platform 4, there's a small war flagship under the command of a certain Captain Kyna. There's a small army on board, but other than that, it's empty. It's supposed to be headed around the Empire, keeping the planets and satellites in line."

"On platform 39, there's a cruiser-"

"Scratch that out" Adam ordered. "A cruiser is over the line."

"And then on platform 54, there's a small flagship, not many guards, but it's heading to the capital of the Empire."

Adam thought carefully. He had the choice between two ships. The legion could capture both, but they needed to act quickly. He was about to make his choice, when his comm system buzzed to life. Lhikan's voice was heard. "Um Commander? I think they've spotted you. There's a small unit heading your way...and they're numerous. They'll be at your sector in less than five minutes"

Adam switched to Anthony. "Anthony, head towards the ship on platform 4. Shoot any guards you see in there. I want the ship cleaned out as fast as possible."

"No problem sir."

"Lhikan, you still there?"

"Yep."  
"Take aim. Just try to slow them as much as possible. Hold them for five minutes."

"I'll do my best Commander."

Adam ran with James towards the window, and carefully peered out of it, his weapon raised. Indeed, a unit composed of eight Krikens was heading their way. Adam opened the comm channel. "Lhikan, open fire."

Almost instantly, a thick red beam vaporized one of the Krikens. "In your face sucker." Lhikan said.

Adam allowed Lhikan to joke a round. He had learnt that the boy wouldn't, and couldn't lose his childish nature. However, the rookie was very loyal to both the laws; orders and paid huge respect for his superiors. So Adam eventually left him the fault of his lack of seriousness, as long as his attitude towards the other domains remained unchanged.

Not only that, but the jokes proved to be highly effective taunts to the enemy.

The remaining survivors of the units instantly reacted, and opened fire in the sniper's direction.

Another thick beam disintegrated a Kriken.

Adam turned to Lyle. Sure despite Lhikan's accuracy, he would end up having trouble to keep them busy. Six on one. Not good. "Lyle, are you done yet?"

"Just three more minutes."

"James, take out your Freeze Gun. Lhikan, leave your position. Head towards the platform 4. Help Anthony empty the ship out."

"No problem."

Adam raised his gun. "James, open fire."

* * *

Anthony ran with Maurice to the platform 4. Hiding from troops, and racing out when the coast was clear, they eventually reached the ship. Maurice whistled. "Nice ship."

The ship was average size. Its small turrets surrounded the hull, painted bright grey. The cockpit, large enough to carry a small crew, was placed at the very back, right in front of the reactors. The power of the engines could be felt only by looking at it.

Anthony nodded. "That's one pretty girl. Come on!"

He activated his plasma gun, and ran with Maurice inside. They hurried up the open hatch, and proceed in the ship.

The place was empty, except for a few members of the crew who had stayed behind to take care of the ship.

Maurice burst out of his hiding place, firing his gun wildly. Every single bullet struck the krikens in their rough chests, limbs and heads, causing them to collapse quickly.

Anthony followed him, choosing his targets carefully. A beam grazed his shoulder. Anthony spun around and saw a couple of krikens grabbing some weapons. One of them was holding smoking gun. "Somebody's gotta teach you guys some manners." Anthony said. "Rule number one, ALWAYS be kind to guests. Or else, this happens." He fired his plasma gun, killing a good number of krikens in one go.

Maurice yanked the door to the cockpit open, and subdued the pilots. Anthony could've sworn he heard a 'special delivery' coming from Maurice. He sighed. "Lhikan's a bad influence."

Nevertheless, he activated his comm. system. "Commander, the ship's ours."

"Good. Prep the engines. We must be off as soon as the bomb is blown."

"What about Samus?"

"She'll be there. Just sit patiently."

* * *

Samus walked slowly towards the control tower. She had short circulated the system in the time tables, and saw that most the guards were hiding in there, all waiting for their new orders.

She grinned evilly. A tiny slaughter was about to take place. She stopped in front of a metal door. She raised her arm canon, charged a power beam, and blew it apart.

Her comm system crackled. "Samus, could you be a little less...enthusiastic?"

She winced. "Sorry Adam." she said. She charged in.

* * *

Adam blasted a kriken to nothing. "Hurry up Lyle! We're going to get overwhelmed at this rate!"

"Almost done! Just hold a few more seconds...just a little longer." Lyle shouted. "Come on, come on..."

James fired his freeze gun, trapping his target in solid ice. Adam finished him off.

Suddenly, Lyle raced past them, yelling at the top of his voice. "MAYDAY! BAIL OUT!"

Both soldiers jumped out of their hiding place, and bolted after the mechanic.

"I told you to put the timer at fifteen minutes!"

"I did! But the blasts might ignite the bomb!" Lyle shouted, running like a maniac.

James panted after them. "Commander, do we join the others?"

"Yes." he tapped his comm system. "Lhikan! Do you read me?"

"Yep Commander. I'm with Anthony-"

"Shoot the krikens! We're heading towards the ship, so we should soon be in your range!"

"No problem."

The three members of the Platoon 7 raced across the fields and began running onto hard pavement. Blasts were flying around them. Adam was about to promise himself to give Lhikan the biggest chewing ever, when an imperialist beam shot out of a beam, hitting a Kriken in the middle of chest, sending him flying.

"Wow, who would've known they were could fly so easily."

"Cut the jokes Lhikan!"

"Yes commander."

Protected by the sniper's deadly accuracy, the three soldiers raced into the ship, firing behind them. "Maurice!" James shouted. "Get us out of here!"

Maurice slammed his foot on the pedal, and the ship lurched. "Here goes nothing!"

"We're forgetting Samus!"

The control tower exploded, sending debris and smoke all over the place. A plasma beam hit the entrance of the ship, and held on. Lhikan yelped. "What is that thing?" He poised to shoot it, be Anthony calmed him down.

"Look."

A green figure was swinging from the other end. It was approaching fast. Suddenly, it detached itself, and flung itself high in the air with its small jetpacks. It did a twist in the air, and hit the bridge, arms spread out.

"Epic..." Lhikan managed to say. "So cool!"

Samus stood up. "It's easy. Just gotta be quick."

"Can you teach me?"

"No."

"Aw come on, please?"

Anthony watched the rookie followed Samus into the ship. A huge roar caught his attention

A huge fire ball was growing uncontrollably fast, engulfing everything, ships, towers, krikens, everything. Suddenly, it shrank, and all was left of the station was debris.

Anthony whistled. "I see why Commander Adam is so worried about these weapons. It took a whole place."

He turned, closing the hatch behind him. He almost felt sorry for the people down there.

Almost.

* * *

Adam walked deeper into the ship in search of James. He eventually found him, sitting in the central room of the ship, talking to Lyle. "James, what have you found about this ship?"

James jumped. He hadn't heard his approach. He tried to cover it with a salute. "Well, this ship is called '_Stained Moon_'. It belongs to the third leader of the Kriken forces, who is called Captain Kyna. The ship was supposed to circle the perimeter of the Empire to keep the borders in check."

There was the sound of someone running. Adam turned, and saw an-out-of-breath Anthony. He stopped in front of him, and saluted.

"Sir, this ship has a tractor beam." Anthony panted

Adam looked at him. "All ships these size have one."

"But any kind of tractor beam," Anthony said, "a REAL tractor beam. One that can snag war cruisers"

Adam made no reply, but Anthony knew that the information was important. They would end up using the tractor beam sometime in the mission. Adam spoke to James. "What else?"

James smiled. "One thing remains: the Empire doesn't know we snatched it!"

Adam stared at him with his emotionless face. "You mean after all the damage we caused, the Empire has no idea we swiped a ship?"

"No sir. The ship was supposed to leave an hour ago, but it got held back for some reason. And since the Tower Control blew up, the information about the theft and attack is completely unknown."

Adam uncrossed his arms, and looked as if tiny shards of ideas were merging into one.

* * *

Samus peeked into the cockpit, and saw Anthony piloting the ship, with Maurice sitting next to him on the shotgun seat. She entered the room. "Anything special right now?"

Anthony turned and smiled. "Nothing yet princess. We just have the orders to take this ship back to HQ."

Maurice clicked a few buttons. "Yeah. Commander Adam didn't want to explain. He said he would tell us more when we've arrived."

Samus did not question them further on the subject. "Nice explosions back there by the way."

"Which one? The explosion you caused or the power bomb?" Maurice asked.

"The power bomb was awesome." Samus admitted. "But I preferred mine."

Anthony started laughing. "You should've seen Lhikan when your plasma whip hit the hull. He freaked out."

Samus grinned. "Whoops. I'll apologize to him later." Though she didn't sound sorry at all.

She turned to Maurice, who was tapping away on the ship's computer. She suddenly saw Ian sitting there. He had always been doing stuff like that, even in his last few seconds; he had stayed loyal to his mission, and did not try to run.

Samus felt like someone had punched her. She hadn't realized how much she actually missed him.

"Samus you're zoning out." Lhikan said.

Samus turned and glared at the boy. "Mind your business kiddo."

Lhikan grinned. "The kiddo says that he makes everyone's business his business, right Sammy?"

Samus didn't bother wasting words. She punched him, and stormed out of the room.

Lhikan watched her with watery eyes, rubbing his head. "What's her problem? I mean come ON! I haven't done anything to deserve this hatred!" He looked at Anthony who shifted uneasily. He handed the controls to Maurice, and walked back outside with the rookie.

"Lhikan it's completely her fault." he said

"Right. And I'm Chairman Keaton."

"Listen to me!" Anthony cried. "I don't think she hates you directly." He thought. "Lhikan, do you know a guy called Ian Malkovich?" Lhikan shook his head, but Anthony could've sworn he felt a wave of hesitation. He ignored it. "He's Commander Adam's brother, and died during an important mission, when the reactor he was repairing went critical and suffered from a meltdown, and exploded."

"What does this guy have to do with me?"

"What this guy has to do with you is the similarity. You two are so alike it's scary. Either you two actually met, and you're simply trying to imitate him, or you're his twin brother. In both cases this is impossible."

"So Samus hates me because I look like someone else? Man she must've really hated that guy."

Anthony grinned. "Actually, they were boyfriend/girlfriend."

"ANTHONY! WHAT ARE YOU SAYING TO THE KID?"

Both men turned to see a fuming Samus storming towards them. Lhikan sweat-dropped. "Did she always act like that when-"

Samus gave him the deadliest glare she could muster. "Listen kid, nothing happened between us. Anthony's just a huge liar."

"Oh please Samus. Commander Adam even caught you two red-handed, remember?"

Samus flushed scarlet. Once, Adam was ordered to go on Gerria to check on the organization of the planet. Ian had invited Samus over to his quarters for the night. The only problem was, there was a situation with the ship, and the mission was finally cancelled. Both Ian and Samus weren't aware of the changes. Adam entered his quarters right when she and Ian were in the middle of a make out session, and were becoming a bit intimate. She could still remember the shocked and bewildered look on the commander's face. That had already been embarrassing enough, but to make things even worse, Adam hadn't bothered keeping it a secret. In less than two days, the entire HQ was aware of the act, and the couple didn't dare to look at each other for the next two weeks, due to the embarrassment.

"You have no proof." Samus hissed, and bolted away before either of them could mention something.

Lhikan shivered. "Wow...So I guess I must really look like him..."

Anthony nodded. "Besides, she hates rookies. But as soon as you make it through the mission, or you manage an incredible act, she'll leave alone, or try to befriend you."

Lhikan looked confused. He simply shrugged. "Women..." he muttered, before walking away.

Anthony watched him leave, and burst out laughing.

**There it is! Next chapter should be out by Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Here's the next chapter. Sorry to have taken so long, but internet seriously sucks at my place, and I only manage to get into this account about once every ten tries.**

**I decided not to add Ian in this chapter, unlike what I promised, but I wanted keep a cliffhanger. You'll see what I meant once you're finished the chapter.**

**I'm going to slow down the writing cause I've got the Golden Sun stroy I'm writing with a friend to rewrite (my sister busted the flashdrive) but I won't give up on this story, It's too awesome.**

**Let the chapter begin!**

Adam walked out of the _Stained Moon_, and headed into the docking bay, where Chairman Keaton was waiting. He saluted. "Chairman Keaton, the theft was a complete success."

Keaton nodded. "As I can see. I also heard that the station has been completely destroyed. I thought the power bomb was meant to be a diversion?"

Adam thought for a moment. "Lyle gave the bombs too much power. Though I'm glad he did. Now, the Kriken Empire is unaware that it's missing a ship."

Keaton smiled. "That's a good beginning. But won't they get suspicious if there is no contact from her. You can't answer, or else they'll realize that it has been stolen."

Adam nodded. "We have a solution." He took out a talkie walkie, and said into it, "Activate the comm. System Anthony."

Instantly, a bluish colored hologram of a Kriken appeared in front of the Commander and the Chairman. The Kriken was outraged. "I demanded that call me for important reasons. Diplomacy is NOT on my list!" The kriken snapped.

The Chairman raised an eyebrow. "It seems that you do not know the meaning of peace my friend."

"_FRIEND_! How dare you! General Adam, kill this fool!"

"I'm not in the rank of a general, I am a Commander and I do not plan on changing. And unless if you want to spend some time in Kitchen duty, I suggest you quiet down Lhikan."

The hologram morphed from a Kriken into an eighteen year old human. Lhikan, with a huge grin on his face, saluted. "Flutz Wuz Commander. Hi Chairman Keaton." The hologram disappeared.

Keaton looked at Adam. "Flutz Wuz?"

Adam coughed. "A joke regarding me, him and a teddy bear." Adam replied emotionlessly, remembering the time when Lhikan and Anthony had tried, and nearly succeeded, into scaring him with a teddy bear, holding a freeze gun and making him look like an assassin.

Keaton raised an eyebrow, but made no comment on the subject. "That's something out of the way Now what are you planning to do next?"  
"We're going to act as the Kriken's pawns until we find a way into the Empire's core. As you just witnessed, we got a hologram modifier, in case we get any calls from the Empire. As we fly across the Empire, we will destroy the planets that the _Stained Moon_ has visited. I'm hoping that the Krikens will jump to the conclusion that the ship is being followed by the Federation. Once they think that, we'll head towards the capital, with them thinking that we're trying to escape, infiltrate it, and destroy it from the inside. Once the capital is in ruins, we'll snatch another ship and escape, leaving behind us, a confused, unorganized and undirected army, which will be easy to pound with our fleet."  
Keaton thought of the plan. He sighed. "It's a shame you turned down the offer of becoming and Admiral. You would've made Dane look like a rookie,"

"I told you, sir, that I'm not interested."

Keaton smiled. "I'll find a way to tip you over Commander. So you'd better be careful."

Adam's stone-cold mask revealed no emotion. "That will be hard sir." He walked away, after making a quick salute.

He ordered the small intelligence and medical groups to enter the ship. After, he gave the docking bay of the HQ one last look, and followed the others.

Keaton smiled. "You still haven't won yet Commander. Without you knowing, I've backed you into a corner."

* * *

Samus walked down the hallway of the _Stained Moon_, still trying to get used to the place. The ship was small all right, but everything looked so alike it was hard not to get lost.

Her random steps brought her to the medical center. It took her by surprise, before she realized that Krikens were not robots. They needed to be healed.

She saw a couple of medics cleaning their stuff. There were only two of them, but she knew that they were the best, since Platoon 7 will have to be able to fight as soon as possible, without the slightest delay.

"Hey Damara. Anything special?" Samus asked, walking towards the girl.

Damara turned, and gave the blond soldier a friendly smile. "Nope. We were just cleaning things up. There are only two of us. Me and Tina."

Samus nodded. She turned and began to walk away. "You know what Damara? It seems like Anthony has become as insane as the rookie. They both decided to accomplish the impossible."

Damara tilted her head sideways. "What are they trying to do?"

"They swore that they would break Commander Adam's emotionless mask. Like that's ever gonna happen."

Damara laughed. '_This is going to be one interesting mission_'

* * *

All the members were seated in a circle in the reunion room. They all stopped whispering to one another when Adam walked into the room. They all stood up and saluted. Adam gestured at them to sit, before starting his briefing.

"All right. The first part of the plan was a complete success. Not only we managed to steal a ship, but we also managed to keep the Empire unaware of the theft. We also destroyed the station where the _Stained Moon_ was parked."

"So here's my plan. Since the ship was destined to leave before we destroyed the station, and it was held back, for some incident, and the Empire isn't aware of it, I decided to tale advantage on this situation. We will act as the Empire's crew. We will have to follow every single command given to us by the Emperor, who-after the documents on the database-is called Emperor Kopak, and stop by every planet we were meant to stop at. Once the visit on the planet is complete, we will blast the station behind us. Samus, Anthony, Lhikan and I will do this."

"Lyle, I want you to keep the hologram of Captain Kyna when we'll have calls. I also want you to try and upgrade the turrets and power suits as much as possible. Lhikan, you'll be imitating Captain Kyna. Fortunately, he shares some similarities in personality with you, such as the lack of attention you sometimes show. James, as our code breaker, I want you to drain all the information on the Empire, and transmit it-secretly-to the HQ."

"For the destruction on planets, we will be in pairs. Samus and Lhikan will be together, and Anthony and I will be paired." He ignored Samus's death glare.

Lhikan raised his hand. Adam looked at him, waiting for his question. "Why do I have to go with Samus? Anthony and I work better together."

"Samus has trouble with sniping. Not only that, but you're also a good scout. I want you to search the place and warn Samus of any upcoming threats."

"Oh, okay. No problem."

Adam knew that he hadn't fooled him. It could be read from the boy's features. The only reason why he put Samus with Lhikan was so they could settle each other's differences, which was probably not going to happen at all. He resumed his briefing. "We need to make the Krikens think that the_ Stained Moon_ is being followed. They'll have us retreat towards their most protected areas. Once we head there, we will lay a trap, and destroy them. The fleet will then arrive to support us." He stared silently at the group. "Our first stop, after what the documents here in the computers say, is a space station called _Venomous Hell_. We will send a holographic message there, so they can give us a report. That's the end of the briefing." Everyone instantly raised their thumbs. "Any objections lady?" Adam asked, turned to Samus, instantly gave him a thumbs down.

* * *

Lyle was pressing a few buttons on the holographic communication system. It was placed in front of a large seat, where the captain was supposed to sit. "The communication looks fine. I think we'll be able to put another check on the next part of this mission. Come on Lhikan." The boy sat down in the chair. "Sit up, krikens are very straight. There. Now the hologram should have your entire body in. Now the hologram will represent you as Captain Kyna, so you won't have to worry about looks. However, the hologram will imitate every single one of your movements, so be extra careful when you move."

"Got it." Lhikan said, nodding. He looked at the small computer next to the system. It was a computer made to receive and send some documents. Lhikan guessed that a lieutenant usually sat there in order to control the data. "Sammy, could you please sit there? I think that the guy on the other side of the screen will be sending us some info. I need you to collect it for me, since I can't leave my seat."

Samus, standing next to Adam and Anthony, fired him a murderous glare. "Two things. One, I have no reason to listen to you, and two, _DON'T CALL ME SAMMY!_"

Adam cleared his voice. "The nickname is none of my business, but I agree with Lhikan on the second part. I want you to collect the reports that will be sent."

Samus looked at Adam as though he had just said he was going to kill her. She opened her mouth to protest, but Adam cut her short, his voice calm, emotionless and hard. "You are the only one who has the basics when it comes to collecting data that does not come from the Federation. You also know bit about the kriken alphabet, which should give us an opportunity to verify the reports to see if they're real or not. Now go." He spoke in a way in which the meaning was clear. No arguing.

Samus gave him a look of complete betrayal, then turned to Anthony for help, until she finally obeyed, stomping her way to the seat to show her bad mood. She fired a death glare at Lhikan, who simply deflected it by tilting his head, as though he was confused by the act.

The teenager snapped his fingers. "Show time people."

Almost instantly, the holographic telecommunication system flickered on. In front of Lhikan was a tall kriken who was going through a few files on his computer. His back was turned, so he hadn't noticed the hologram. Lhikan cough loudly.

The kriken spun around, gapes, and instantly knelt. "Captain Kyna. Forgive me. I had not noticed you."

"Indeed." Lhikan said dryly, causing the few people to look at each other in surprise. "I believe it is now time for you to give me your report on the past few months. I hope that I am not disappointed this time."

Lhikan spoke with a very cold voice. Clearly he was choosing his words very carefully. His efforts were rewarded by a quick tremble and a stutter from the kriken.

"Y-you weren't pleased last time? I-I followed every single order."

"Indeed you have. But the Emperor seems to think differently."

"We are doing our best sir. The bioweapons are being produced efficiently and quickly." the kriken spoke quickly, fear present in his voice.

"Efficiently perhaps. That will be discovered with the report you will give to me. But quickly, however, is not part of our beliefs. I'm afraid you will have to do better than your 'best'"

"B-but Captain-"

Lhikan slammed his arm on the armchair, and rose. He roared "DO YOU EVEN QUESTION ME? I AM ABSOLUTELY RIGHT, AND IT IS YOU WHO MUST ADMIT TO BE AT FAULT! I WILL NOT TOLERATE YOUR INSOLENCE!" His outburst caused everyone in the room to have a certain reaction. Samus jumped in her seat, nearly falling over in the process, Lyle yelped, and tripped over himself. Anthony gaped, his eyes opened wide. Even Commander Adam raised an eyebrow.

The kriken began to shake violently. "P-please fo-forgive m-me Captain. I j-just th-thought y-y-you'd want to know."

"Enough of this foolishness. Send me the report." Lhikan ordered, sitting back down.

The kriken turned, pressed a few keys on the computer, before turning. "I-I-it's on it's way"

There was a beep on the computer in front of Samus. Lhikan turned to Samus . "Lieutenant Ara-" Lhikan coughed. "Lieutenant Arak, have we received the report?"

Still in shock by the outburst, Samus scanned the document received, and nodded. "It does captain." She also gave him a WTF look. '_Arak? Seriously?'_

"Good." Lhikan turned back to the Kriken. "Send a copy immediately to the Emperor." He snapped. The kriken in the hologram, shaking madly, nodded.

"I will Captain."

Lhikan smiled. He peered past the hologram. "I'm giving the report a quick look, and it seems that I will be pleased with some results."

The kriken seemed relieved. "We have created some powerful weapons Captain."

"I will check on it in a moment. In the meantime, increase both production and speed. I will return for a new report in three months." without waiting for an answer, Lhikan cut the connection.

He spun around his rolling chair, and looked at Adam. "Was that good enough Commander?"

Adam stared so long and intently, Lhikan began to squirm in his seat in nervousness. Finally, he spoke. "Arak? Lieutenant Arak? Care to explain?"

Lhikan smiled. "It was the first thing I thought of…"

Adam turned. "Send the report over to my quarters. I'll read it later." With that, he left.

An awkward silence fell over everyone in the room. Lhikan looked at Anthony, Lyle, and finally Samus who was still stunned by Lhikan's earlier outburst.

"I know I'm incredibly handsome, but still Sammy, quit staring. It's freaky."

That snapped Samus out of her trance. She shook her head, and stormed out of the room. "Arak...that sounds like a crab. He's going down…" she muttered.

Both Lhikan and Lyle grinned. Anthony managed to keep a straight face. The silence stayed until James walked in. "Guys, I saw Samus walking down the hallway. She looked furious. She also kept muttering something about arak. What the hell is that?"

Almost instantly, Anthony, Lyle and Lhikan burst out laughing.

* * *

Samus pulled at the blue sleeve of her Zero Suit. Now that the report had been given to the _Stained Glass_ and the Emperor was still thinking that the _Stained Glass _was still under the control of the Krikens, they had to blow up the space station to make it look as if the ship was being followed.

She activated her Power Suit. In an orange flash, Samus found herself covered in her armor. She walked down the corridors, towards the bay where a small Federation shuttle had been taken. She passed Damara on the way.

"Looks like it's your big chance Samus. Blow the thing up for me all right?"

Samus grinned. "Count on me. And be prepared. I'm planning on having our little rookie coming home in a wheel chair."

Damara sweat dropped. "You really hate him huh? What will you do if he ends up saving you life?"

"That will never happen."

"What if it did?"

Samus thought. "I dunno. But I'm telling you, it'll never happen." She continued her pace when she stopped. "Damara. I've been thinking. Why does Lhikan refuse to take a marine armor? You were in his section before joining the medical."

Damara tried to remember. "I'm not sure. He always said the suit itself was a weapon. He never showed anyone its abilities though. I guess it's like yours though. Strong and more efficient when it comes to speed. I also heard him once calling it something. Zephyr I think…why?"

"Nothing…no reason." Samus waved and walked away, wondering what the hell Damara was talking about.

* * *

The ship landed in a small docking bay in the _Venomous Hell_. The krikens stood still, surprised by the appearance of a Federation ship in the middle of the Kriken Empire. Tehe guards leveled their weapons.

They never got to shoot.

The door was barely open; an orange thing flew out, and began to blast at everything in sight.

The krikens tried to escape, but they never got the chance. Samus was everywhere, blasting every single creature in the room. In barely a few minutes, the room was empty of all survivors, and full of corpses. Samus rested her canon on her shoulder. "It's done. You guys can come out now."

Three soldiers, two in blackish-blue marine power suits, and the third in a dark green suit, walked out, their weapons raised.

Adam looked around. "Good work Samus. Now head towards the laboratories in the southern part of the station. Bioweapons are being built. Destroy everything and kill all the krikens. This place must be a ruin we leave. Don't forget about Lhikan. And, unless there is no choice, do NOT get separated. Lhikan lacks knowledge when it comes creatures, but hopefully you'll be able to fill in the gap."

"Anthony, we're heading towards the communication systems and armories that are in the northern side of the station. I will be able to contact all of you, but just in case, call only in absolute necessary. Once at the communication base, we'll be able to witness your progress. Now let's go"

Both groups separated. Lhikan jogged to keep pace with Samus's quick and long strides. "So, you'll introduce me to some friends of yours?" he said cheekily. Hearing no response, he continued. "Hey Samus can't you just drop the whole attitude? You didn't complain about being with me."

Samus instantly stopped walking, and stabbed a finger into the boy's chest. "Listen here buster, I'm only with you because I have to. If I could, I'd leave you here to rot. Got it? Now stay out of my way. You've slowed me down enough already."

Lhikan seemed surprised by the harsh tone of the female soldier, but he simply rested his hands on the back of his head. "Okay. No prob." He stayed several paces behind her, wondering whether Anthony was right about her wanting to befriend him later on. "So, where are we going?"

Samus resisted the urge to facepalm. "You're kidding right? Adam gave our orders. We have to-"

"I know!" Lhikan protested. "I just wanted to know how he knew the labs were this way. What if he's wrong?"

Samus shrugged. "The labs are this way. He's never wrong. Now keep quiet."

Lhikan rolled his eyes. Since he knew that arguing would be pointless, he simply obeyed Samus's words, and stayed behind while she blew up room after room, and killing groups of krikens without uttering a word.

* * *

Adam and Anthony burst into the communication system, shooting their guns in all directions.

Anthony fired his plasma gun on a large control panel, causing it to erupt into a beautiful display of sparks and smoke. Grabbing his freeze gun and stifle gun, he shot at the computers, causing them to explode, taking some members of the crew with them.

The guards tried to raise their weapons, but Adam blasted their heads with his own weapon, punching holes into their armor and cracking their single eye.

A kriken made a desperate attempt to punch the emergency call button, but Anthony's bullet hit it in the chest, sending it flying across the room, where it clattered against the wall and stayed still.

Anthony raced to a computer who was screaming questions. He realized that the one talking was none other than the Emperor himself. He glanced at Adam who nodded. "This is the Galactic Federation Platoon 7. We're taking over your station. Consider yourselves humiliated. Bye bye." with that, he pointed the nose of his gun at the screen and blasted the computer to pieces.

Adam walked over to a large computer, and flipped on the files that had to do with the station. Bioweapons, armor enhancing, nothing out of the usual. He managed to get out a map, giving him a 3D view of the entire station. Four red dots were shown. Judging from their position, Adam guessed it was the four of them. He flipped his comm. system on. "Samus, Lhikan, head to sector 43 down the hall on your right. It's a small chamber filled with mutated animals. I'm guessing the animals are used as weapons. Set them all free but try to keep them in the southern side of the station. I want the northern part spared so the Empire can get a good reading on the damage."

"All right Adam." Samus replied.

Adam waited, as an argument grew between Samus and Lhikan. Anthony walked up to him, and listened carefully, a smile on his face.

"QUIT STALKING ME WILL YA?" Samus shouted.

"Commander Adam said we mustn't get separated unless there's the absolute necessity."

Adam heard Samus grit her teeth and sigh in effort to remain calm.

"Hey, look. Aren't those mutated chickens? The grayish armored creatures in the corner there?"

"THOSE ARE CYBORG ZEBESIANS YOU IDIOT!"

There was an exchange of blasts, Things were being flung around and slammed against the wall. A pause.

"They still look like mutated chickens to me."

"GAAAH! JUST GET A LIFE!"

Stomping was heard, but it was covered up by Anthony's laughing. Adam began to wonder whether they would ever get along, between Samus's pride and Lhikan's humor. Nevertheless, he remained silent.

* * *

Lhikan fired a power beam, instantly melting the lock of the cage which held dozens of what seemed like a huge bluish bees. "Drone bees are all out! What's next?"

Samus, with the help of her plasma whip, tugged a huge metal door open. The hinges cracked loudly, and the metal screamed, and the door was flung out. A roar was heard, and purplish creature with giant tentacles and legs tore out, flapping its giant wings. It roared, before ripping everything apart-including the ones who had just liberated it.

'_Oops_' Samus thought. They had just released a Rhedogian. Maybe she should've left this thing in its cage. If Adam was angry, she could probably find a way to put the blame on Lhikan. "We're done Adam. Now what?"

"There's a shaft at the end of the sector. Get to it. We'll lock the door behind you. Are you both all right?"

Samus looked at Lhikan. The Rhedogian had managed to grab his ankle with one of its tentacles, and was spinning him in the air like a lasso. "Oh I'm fine Commander! Just enjoying the view! WOOOHOOOHOOHOOO!" Lhikan shouted, as the beast spun him faster in the air, before throwing him.

The boy rammed into Samus, and they were both sent flying through the door, which shut behind them and got locked automatically.

Samus shook her head. "Next time you fly like this, warn me okay?" she said, trying to conceal the laughter in her voice.

"Oh right! It's my fault that this thing threw me across the room. Just so you know, the next time, come and help all right?" Lhikan replied, out of breath-probably due to his earlier laughing.

Samus switched back to her serious self and looked around. "Um…Adam? Where are we?"

The room was pitch black. So dark that Samus's night vision wasn't much help at all.

"You in a circular room with two exits: the one you just went in and the other one on the other side of the room. Behind the wall is a pool of lava. It should be able to light the room. Your super missiles are authorized."

That was good to know but…how could they blast the wall when they couldn't even see through their own visors? Samus sighed. "I got it."

She fired a missile. It exploded harmlessly against the wall, releasing a small cloud of smoke. The light lit the room for a split second, but it died down before either of them could register something.

Samus sighed. That was useful.

"Take it easy Samus, I got it."

Samus turned towards Lhikan (or the area where she assumed he was since she was relying only on noise). "What do you mean?"

Her question was instantly answered as a faint green glow began to appear. It slowly, but surely, grew brighter, till it dimly lit the room. Lhikan's power suit was somehow releasing the greenish light. "It's not much, but at least we can see something." Lhikan said.

Samus tried to look at Lhikan, but the light-despite it being dim-hurt her eyes. "How are you doing this?"

"It's one of the few abilities of my power suit. It has a couple of surprises. That's one of them. The surprises are one of the reasons why I don't want to lose this suit." Lhikan said.

"What other tricks do you have?" Samus asked, trying to hide the fact that she was impressed by the abilities the suit held.

Lhikan winked. "That's for me to know, and you to find out."

Samus rolled her eyes and turned. "Come on. The exit's this way."

Lhikan jogged up to her, and the two of them headed towards what seemed a large metal door.

A deep, loud growl was heard. It was so loud it shook the entire room, causing both soldiers to stop in their tracks and look at each other.

"Please tell me that was your stomach." Lhikan said.

Something past by. Samus raised her arm canon. "Something's here."

"Way to point to out the obvious."

"SHUT UP!"

The beast ran by again, growling threateningly, its red eyes gleaming evilly. Despite Lhikan's glow, it was too dark to know what the creature actually was.

"We need to lighten this place up. Where's the wall hiding the lava?" Lhikan asked.

Samus instantly ran towards the wall on the left, and fired a super missile.

The weapon exploded on impact, and waves of lava began pouring into the basin below. Light and heat surged through the room.

Both soldiers looked around. "There!" Lhikan shouted. The creature was bipedal, with a long tail and two huge pincers.

"An Asborean!" Samus shouted. "He's mine!" Lhikan tried to protest, but Samus raced past him, and blasted a charged power beam in a small red spot right under its head. The beast screamed in pain, and tried to grab Samus with one of its pincers. But the agile hybrid dove out of the way, firing another blast. The beast suddenly shuddered violently, and its huge shell fell off, revealing a gross brown gooey body. Samus, switching to her ice beam, fired twice at it.

The first blast instantly froze the beast, and the second blasted it to pieces, killing it instantly.

Samus stood up from her crouching position, and began to tap herself, trying to clean to dust off her suit. "Not bad for someone who's out o practice." she commented to herself. She turned to her pouting comrade. "Fine." she sighed in exasperation. "The next monster is yours."

Lhikan beamed. "Really? Promise?"

"Promise. Just anything to stop acting like a kid. Got it?"

"Boyah! Thanks Sam!"

Samus rolled her eyes at the new nickname. "It's better than Sammy at least." she mumbled, as she followed the boy.

* * *

The two of them found themselves staring at a hallway that separated into two different paths. Samus poised to go right, when Adam spoke.

"Samus, Lhikan? You're in the Incubate hall. There are two paths ahead of you. The one on the right heads towards a computer lab. It appears to be empty. Lhikan, I'd like you to go down there and see if you can find any information before blowing it up. Everything that you find interesting, I want it down. Can you do it?"

Lhikan thought. "I have a flash drive attached to my suit. I'll be able to download all the data. But there's a down side. My communication system could be static for a small amount of time."

"How long?"

Lhikan shrugged. "Depends on the amount of data downloaded."

There was a pause. "Tell me the most important, and then download it. Samus, go to the left. There's a couple of monsters down there that would be good if they were released. There is a Desbrachian and a school of Brugs. They should leave you alone if you release them. If they attack, kill them. Now go."

Lhikan whined. "Why does she get all the fun?"

"You lack the knowledge on creatures Lhikan. Having you attack a monster with that serious side-effect can be your death, and I don't want to write a report due to a loss of a member. The computer lab might hold some valuable information. Read it carefully. If you encounter a monster that was described in the lab, then we'll see. But so far-no battles. Am I clear?"

"Yes Commander."

"Good. Both of you have the authorization to use plasma beams. Now go! There are readings up here of some very dangerous monsters, and I don't want either of you hurt."

Static met the comm systems. Lhikan groaned. "This just sucks. Anyway, I guess I'll be the spy for now. Save me something to shoot at okay? Thanks!"

Lhikan raced into the hallway leading to the right, leaving Samus in his wake. She grinned. At last! Freedom! I'll finally be able to bust some heads in quiet."

She walked down the left side, humming happily to herself.

* * *

Lhikan continued to walk down the hallway till he reached a metal door. He tried the handle. To his surprise, it was unlocked. He carefully pushed it open, and a room dimly lit with several computers met his eyes. Walking towards a computer and sitting down, he began to click on some random files.

"Blah blah blah bioweapons…blah blah blah ships…blah blah- HEY!" He tapped a document, which instantly zoomed to him. "Stuff about mutated monsters huh? That might be interesting." He pressed a button on his left arm, and a small flash drive popped out of his armor. He clicked it in the computer. "Time to download." The flash drive lashed red, showing it was busy. Lhikan allowed himself to look deeper into the file. "Wow. Mutated Zoomers." he remembered back at Aipotu when a school of zoomers appeared out of nowhere and nearly killed the entire planet due to their diseases. It was a miracle that they survived and chased them away. "I wonder how they look like now. Probably more efficient." He found another file, this time on the strategy plans made to fight the Federation. They were downloaded too. Just to wait for the downloading to complete itself, Lhikan began checking out the monsters being both held.

He stopped at one of them. It was dragon shaped, huge wings and thick and claws limbs. Its yellow eyes were tiny, but still threatening. Lhikan gasped. "So cool!" He quickly read the description. "This is the creature, reproduced after collecting several DNA structures coming from the remains of the Space Pirate base. With the couple of mutations, Ridley is now capable of night vision as well as emitting poison from its teeth, which can be inflicted when bitten. The creature also has the ability to block out any forms of communication signals. This creature should be sent to attack the Galactic Federation HQ, destroying it entirely." Lhikan's eyes narrowed. He had heard a story about a Ridley causing genocide. But where? Who again was involved? And what in the world was a Ridley? If this was a mutated one, then what was its real form? Lhikan began to beat himself. If only he had paid more attention at the history lessons given to him!

The flash drive beeped and turned blue. Lhikan ejected it. "Let's send the data to Commander Adam. He might know what to make of it."

He raised his arm canon and switched to missile launcher. He smiled "Time blow. Finally something to do. He fired.

* * *

Anthony was busy looking through a couple of files on a computer when the data sent by Lhikan popped in front of him. He smiled. Scrolling through the work, he finally stopped when he ran into the Ridley file. "Commander!" he cried.

Adam turned to face him. "What?"

"Ridley!"

Adam eyes widened and he ran to Anthony. He peered over his shoulder. "A mutated one too…" He looked back at the map. He activated his comm system. "Samus, do you read me?" Static answered him. Samus wasn't hearing him. Trying to fight the panic bubbling within him, he called Lhikan. "Lhikan, do you hear me?" There was pause which caused Adam to nearly lose his temper. Finally, there was an answer

"Yep. I just finished blowing up th-"

"SHUT UP LHIKAN!" Adam shouted. "QUICKLY! CATCH WITH SAMUS AND HURRY!"

"Huh? Why Com-"

"JUST DO IT! HURRY UP!"

"Okay, I'm going."

Adam stopped the call. "Anthony, keep trying to call Samus." He ordered. Trying desperately to find the door leading to the sector where the monster was kept, he began spinning through the map. "Come on come on come on…." he muttered.

* * *

Samus walked into a large chamber. It was circular, and was dimly lit. Not much to worry about.

She had just released all the beasts in the previous section, which were outraged for being held for so long. They attacked the remaining surviving krikens who were trapped against the wall.

Samus looked for an exit. Finding none, she prepared herself to leave when the sound of something beating of wings could be heard.

Raising her arm canon, she scanned the room. There was an exceptionally loud screech coming from below.

Suddenly, there was an explosion, and a huge dragon like creature rose in the air, its limbs outstretched. It glared down at Samus with its tiny little yellow eyes.

As soon as she saw the beast, Samus felt something break inside her. She screamed. "R-RIDLEY!"

Ridley gave another tremendous screech. It slammed in front of her, screeching with all its might, its mouth curled up as though it was enjoying the fear it was inflicting to its victim.

Samus tripped over herself and scrambled away madly. "STOP IT!" she screamed, her eyes shut, protecting herself with her arm. "G-GO AWAY!"

But Ridley stayed just front of her, its huge jaws open, waiting for the right moment to strike. It screeched.

Samus tried to backen away, but she hit the wall. Shaking in fear, water soaking her eyes, she watched in horror as Ridley stood on his back legs, yelling its power, as though Samus's own fear was making him stronger.

"G-go away…." Samus muttered. "Leave me alone."

Ridely lowered his eyes. He opened his jaws wide, and prepared to snatch up Samus, when a huge explosion shook the room, and a missile streaked out of the dust created, and slammed into the monster's cheek, sending it flying across the room.

A green armored boy shot out after it, and skidded protectively in front of Samus. "Looks like I got here right on time!"

He turned to the shaking warrior. "Are you all right?" he asked seriously. He had never seen her so afraid. Samus tried to answer but her words were stuck in her throat. She slowly nodded. Lhikan grinned. "We're saved then."

A huge screech, this time a furious one, was heard. Ridley appeared. It was outraged by the appearance of the rookie. How dare he interrupt his moment of pleasure?

Lhikan raised an eyebrow, faking a pout. "Someone's angry." he commented, clearly unmoved by Ridley's screech.

Samus was seriously impressed. Either he was really brave, or just really stupid. She regained the ability to talk. "Lhikan! You have to get out of here!"

The boy turned. "What?"

"That's Ridley! He-he's too strong! Get away!"

"You said the next monster was mine. You are so not stealing that chance. Besides, my skills are relatively close to yours, right?"

Samus started shouting. "You don't get it! This isn't a battle about skills Lhikan! This…this is a real fight! You're not athletic or agile enough to compete! Even I struggle against him!"

Lhikan raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. But you forget that I was trained by the very best. Not to mention that Zephyr still has tricks!" He turned, ignoring Samus's worried look. "Now sit tight and watch. You're about to see my real strength."

Ridley screeched so loudly the room shook.

Lhikan pointed his arm canon at him. "YOU BALD PIGEON! TAKING ON SOMEONE WHO'S AFRAID OF YOU! AND A WOMAN AT THAT! DON'T YOU KNOW HOW TO TREAT A LADY?"

Ridley answered by growling fiercely.

"LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE HAS TO TEACH YOU SOME MANNERS! YOU'RE GOING DOWN!"

Ridley screeched, before swooping down at the speed of a jet, aiming for Lhikan.

The green armored boy dashed to meet him. "BRING IT ON!"

**LHIKAN VS RIDLEY! Yeah, I really wanted to put that part in. Our beloved character Ian should be here next chapter. All of Lhikan's tricks will be present, since he's going to fight the fight of his life. **

**Zephyr? I dunno. I just thought of it...**

**REVIEW!**


	7. Chapter 7

**All right people, here's the next chapter! Enjoy! ****Ian is going to make his appearance! WOO HOO!**

**I've got some important things to say. First of all, School starts relatively soon, so my time on the computer will be greatly released, so don't be surprised if you see that I haven't updated for a while. It means that I'm studying. Not to mention that one of my sisters busted one computers, so...yeah. Don't worry, I won't give up on this story, it's just too awesome (like me). **

**For the next two weeks, I have some classes the school made. IT's going to drain most of my time, but I'll try to keep writing, for your sake since I already know the ending...MWAHAHAHAHA! YOUR FATE IS IN MY HANDS!**

**Okay, time to start the story**

Lhikan twisted sideways as Ridley slammed the area where he was standing with a huge clawed hand. He instantly countered by firing a missile at the back of the beast's neck.

Ridley staggered, but did not fall. He whirled around and screeched loudly before trying to hit Lhikan with his tail.

The attack struck the boy, but just before Ridley could withdraw his tail for another attack, Lhikan grabbed it, and held on tightly, firing his power beams at the monster, but the blasts simply hit the skin with no apparent effect. Lhikan growled. He released his grip, and began flying across the room. But halfway, he twisted around, and landed, slamming his legs against the ground.

"The skin's too rough. I can't penetrate it…" He dove out of the way to avoid Ridley's fist. He began to realize why Samus was so worried that he wouldn't be able to keep up: he was already getting drained. Ridley was forcing him to move without giving him time to take a break.

Ridley screeched loudly. It dashed towards Lhikan at top speed. Despite its huge size, it was fast on its four legs, planning to chew him to pieces.  
Lhikan leaped back just as the jaws clipped shut, and countered, aiming for the eyes with his most efficient weapon: the Imperialist.

Samus realized his strategy. "WAIT LHIKAN! ADAM DID NOT-"

Too late. Lhikan fired the thick red beam, which instantly struck Ridley in the eye, making him rear on his hind legs, screaming in pain. He fell back on his four feet and glared murderously at the soldier. The injured eye was bleeding profoundously, but Lhikan knew that it wouldn't matter to Ridley, since he could fight with his hearing and smell without any problems. Besides, there was still the other eye…

Ridley screeched again, and tore after Lhikan. His jaws snapped the air, gaining quickly on him.

His jaws…

Maybe…just maybe…his skin was impermeable to attacks, but if he could strike the mouth…

Lhikan rolled out of the way, and switched to his missile launcher. "Come at me Ridley. I'm ready."

Ridley spun around, and made the mistake of screeching. A missile was fired. It shot across the room, and rammed into Ridley's maw. The explosion caused the beast to jerk backwards violently, and to send him flying over the edge and into the lava.

"Did I get him?"

A loud shriek shook the room. Ridley shot upwards, grabbed Lhikan and slammed him against the wall.  
Lhikan barely had time to register what happened when Ridley began flying, dragging the boy across the wall, sending sparks flying. "AAARRGGHH!"

Samus raised her arm canon to help her friend, but there was a flash of green light and Ridley screeched in pain and surprise.

Lhikan began falling like a rock in the lava. He raised his canon, but Ridley slashed at it, breaking it from Lhikan's grip. It landed at Samus's feet. Ridley landed on the platform, watching the boy fall lower into the deadly liquid.

"Lhikan!"

Ridley spun around, keeping Samus from aiding her friend. The blond soldier took a few steps back. "No…" In either way, she couldn't help him. She couldn't fly.

Ridley hissed.

Suddenly, there was a loud roar. A green blur shot out of the pit of lava, and struck Ridley under the jaw, snapping it shut with a clatter. Ridley was thrown across the room, where he slammed against the wall.

"I did say that Zephyr had a couple of tricks." Lhikan said, hovering in the air, his arms crossed, the small jetpack on his was pitting out fire, giving him power needed to fly.

Ridley growled. He flapped his giant wings, and took off in the air.

"And we can enjoy a little air battle."

Samus remembered his canon. She tried to throw it to him but the boy was to far up. The weapon clattered at her feet. "Lhikan! How can you fight without your weapon?"

Lhikan raised his arms. Samus remembered the tiny claws he had at the tip of his wrists, but would those even help against Ridley's rough hide?

Suddenly, the claws extended. They became large, boomerang shaped blades. "Your skin is impervious to explosions and bullets. Let's see if it is capable of withstanding a couple of slashes."

He flew at Ridley, his arm outstretched; he slashed Ridley's face wildly; causing a big gash to appear on the monster's face.

Ridley screeched, He made a wild jab with his tail, which was blocked by Lhikan's blades. Nevertheless, the strength and momentum was high enough to send him crashing into the wall.

Samus growled. "Not good. Unless if Adam manages to find a way out of here, we'll both die." She suddenly remembered something. Adam hadn't called them-even now. Could it be that Ridley was blocking the signal? But how?

The beast made a grab, but Lhikan flew out of the way, and tried to slice the tail, which only missed and caused Lhikan to get slammed against the wall again, this time suffering major damage.

Samus gasped. "The ships deflect radar signals with their wings. Maybe here, Ridley's doing the same thing with the same strategy." She took a deep breath. "LHIKAN! AIM FOR THE WINGS!" Lhikan circled around Ridley. He made a dive, but was forced to veer away. Ridley's jaws and claws were too much for him. Samus gritted her teeth. How could he…

"BOOMERANG SLASH!"

Samus blinked. "What?"

Lhikan swung his arm in an arc, and one of the blades separated from the arm, and flew towards Ridley. But the winged beast dodged the attack, and the blade spun past him. Ridley instantly grabbed Lhikan, and prepared to slam him into the wall, when the blade made a sharp U-turn, and flew back at Lhikan, clipping Rildey's left wing in the process.

"It's not called a boomerang slash for no reason." Lhikan said. Samus could've sworn that he winked.

Unable to fly properly anymore, Ridley fell like a rock, dropping the soldier along with him.

Ridley hit the ground with a crash that shook the entire room. Lhikan activated his jetpack, and landed safely on his two feet, panting hard.

Suddenly, the comm systems crackled back to life. Samus heard Anthony's relieved voice. "Samus! Lhikan! Thank god! We couldn't break through! What happened? Where are you?"

Samus took a deep breath. "We're…um…battling Ridley. The interference is being caused by Ridley's wings."

"I'm glad you're both safe?"

Ridley screeched wildly, and flung Lhikan high in the air, before smashing him down on the ground.

"I don't think 'safe' is the good term…but alive yes." Samus corrected.

"Indeed." Adam's emotionless voice said. "How's the battle going?"

Samus turned to look at the battle. Lhikan twisted in the air, and dove downwards, implanting the blades deep in Ridley's flank. "Lhikan really wanted to fight Ridley so I let him-"

"Excuse me?"

"And he's doing pretty well for a mere human. However he used some…unauthorized weapons such as the imperialist, but-"

"He what?"

"That was a choice of survival. He has some pretty cool equipment, such a jetpack that he is now using-"

"You're kidding right?"

"But he lost his canon when he was blasted against the wall, but he's using…you remember those tiny claws he has? They're actually sheathed blades. He unsheathed them, and he cut off Ridley's wing. So now they're having a ground battle. Kinda intense too."

She heard the silence on the other side of the comm. system. She knew what Adam was thinking about.

"First things first: I want you to deal with Ridley. I want him dead or grievously injured. Then, get out of there and head back to the docking bay. Things are getting dangerous, the Kriken Empire has sent some troops and they'll be here soon."

"All right. No questions of course."

"Good."

Samus looked at Lhikan. He had been slammed against the wall, and was rolling to dodge the slams of Rildey's relentless attacks. "Lhikan!"

* * *

Lhikan rolled out of the way. Using his jetpack to give him momentum, he dashed at Ridley's open jaws, hoping to create a good sized cut, but something unexpected happened: Ridley blasted a fire ball, sending him flying across the room where he crashed at Samus feet.

His visor went red. He realized that he had nearly no more energy left in his suit.

The reality hit him like a rock being hurled at him at full strength.

He couldn't win. He had only one more trick. It wasn't enough to kill Ridley, but it could blind and burn him at once and get both him and Samus out of here.

Ridley screeched loudly, knowing that this was the last attack. He opened his jaws to chew the soldier to bits.

Lhikan used his jetpacks to blast towards Samus. He grabbed her tightly, just as Ridley's jaws closed around his torso.

Screaming in pain, he used all the energy to have Zephyr glow as brightly as possible.

He was rewarded as his suit became a mini sun, blinding everyone in the room, so bright was the glow. "GET US OUT OF HERE!" he ordered.

His suit groaned at the energy needed, and gave a final surge of light.

Everything became dark.

* * *

When the green glow finally died down, Samus dared to open her eyes. She was leaning against the hull of a ship, in some completely different room. She instantly recognized it: the docking bay.

She looked at Lhikan, sprawled on the ground, motionless, gasping for breath.

"Hey, are you okay?"

She got up, dropped Lhikan's gun (which was still in her hand, forgotten) and managed to drag Lhikan against a wall. Through the visor, she could see that his eyes were clamped shut, and sweat was pouring down his face. His breathing was broken gasps.

"Lhikan?"

Lhikan opened an eye. "Wow…that was awesome." he muttered. He turned to Samus, grinning weakly. "Let's do this again."

Samus wondered whether he was talking about the battle or the teleport ability. She simply shrugged. "What's going on? Ridley didn't pierce your suit right? Then what's the matter?"

Lhikan looked down at his chest. Samus followed his gaze, and noticed something she hadn't seen. The armor was chewed, and metal had been torn off. Some strange transparent liquid was covering the green uniform underneath.

"Poison. Ridley was mutated." he explained. "It didn't say anything about it being deadly, but it still really hurts."

Samus chewed her lip, wondering what to do next.

Her comm. system crackled. "Samus? Where are you?"

"We're in the docking bay…Lhikan teleported me and him here."

"Are you both safe?" Adam asked.

Samus took a while answering. "Lhikan is…injured. Probably poison."

There wasn't a reply for a couple of minutes. "Wait for us. We're coming."

"All right."

She broke the contact, and turned back to Lhikan. "Come on Lhikan. Let's get on the ship. Can you walk?" she asked gently.

Lhikan looked at her in surprise. "You called me by my name." he said, wondering whether to be angry, happy or simply confused.

Samus arched an eyebrow. "Why so surprised?"

Lhikan lowered his gaze. "No…nothing." He tried to stand, and gasped. Samus caught him before he collapsed as a heap on the ground. She flung one arm around her shoulders, and helped him get inside the ship.

"I have to you something." she said. "And you're not going to like it."

"What?"

"Adam's going to give you the biggest chewing ever."

"Thanks."

"I told you that you weren't going to like it."

* * *

When Lhikan woke up, he was in the infirmary in the _Stained Moon_. His naked chest had been bandaged, and all pain had disappeared. He tried to sit up, but he felt a wave of nausea.

"Careful. You're still not fully healed yet." Lhikan jumped in surprise.

A couple of people laughing brought him back to reality. Next to his bed were both Samus and Anthony, laughing their heads off. Damara was holding a bottle of what seemed like disinfectant. She was grinning hugely.

Lhikan flushed with embarrassment. "What's so funny?"

"You." Anthony replied. "Your reactions are great. You take on a Ridley without a second thought, but you get surprised so easily by your friends."

Lhikan grinned. "That's because I'm so special."

Damara turned serious. "Okay Lhikan, what do you remember? You've been out for hours."

Lhikan thought. "Oh yeah. I've battled Ridley, and then got us out of there, and then…I forgot." He looked back down at his chest. "I was poisoned…why the hell am I alive?"

Damara laughed. "It isn't exactly poison. Ridley forms some sort of substance in his saliva that are really painful, and can paralyze a person for a certain amount of time. But it's completely harmless otherwise."

"Oh. That's good to know." Lhikan seemed to remember something. "Wait, what happened to Zephyr, my suit?"

"Lyle got it all fixed up. He was surprised how solid it was to have withstood all those attacks." Samus said. "And another thing, Adam hasn't let you off the hook simply because you saved me. He's still wants to have a word with you. He says that you broke some orders, used both unauthorized gear and weapons. Any Commander would be furious when one of his soldiers would do that."

Lhikan gulped. "Is an angry Commander Adam survivable?" he asked.

Anthony shifted. "Depends. He once threw me in kitchen duty for three months straight for questioning an order. It was awful."

"He was in a bad mood Anthony" Samus said.

"No offense, but I think I was better off with Ridley. Can I stay with him?" Lhikan asked.

"No." Samus instantly replied.

"Why not?" Lhikan whined playfully

"Because you aren't going anywhere until you've explained the reason of your recent…actions"

Adam's voice hit everyone like a rock. The commander walked swiftly in the room, his emotionless mask placed on his face. He stared at Lhikan, then at Samus, and back to Lhikan. "I've come to check on you. I'm glad to see that you're awake again." His voice was so even and emotionless that Lhikan wondered whether he was actually glad or not. "I'll have you answer some of my questions later. In the meantime, there's one point I'd like you to clear up for me."

"Yes Commander?"

"Lyle has examined your suit, and gave me a report. In this report he told me several interesting things about your suit."

"Um…Commander?"

Adam's eyes narrowed. He stood directly in front of Lhikan and said, "First, your suit is made entirely of scrap metal. I want to know how you managed to build a suit that withstood all of Ridley's attacks and is somehow made of junk."

Lhikan fidgeted under Adam's stare and everyone's surprised looks. "Well…it's a long story Commander."

"I see. Lyle also told me that some pieces of you suit are ruined pieces of…the Galactic Federation's Marine power suit. Care to explain?"

Everyone looked shocked at the sudden announcement, and looked at Lhikan for an explanation. The boy turned bright red with the attention given to him. "Um…that's related to the first story Commander."

"We have three days till the next report. We have a while."

Lhikan took a deep breath. "Listen, I'm not the builder of this suit. I…well I'm just the soldier using it."

"So who built it?"

Lhikan shifted. "Three years ago, back on Aipotu-"

"Don't even start on some historical lecture." Adam said.

"But then I can't explain the reason of all this." Lhikan protested.

Adam stayed silent. "All right then. Go on."

"So, three years ago on Aipotu, in the middle of the night, a small meteor rammed into the planet, not too far from my home village. Me and my trainer went to check it out, mostly out of curiosity."

"When we reached the site, we realized that the meteor was actually a piece of the remains of a destroyed ship. We checked it out, and found a Federation man in the ship. He was seriously injured. So we took him in. My mentor noticed that he looked a lot like someone he once knew, and decided to keep him secret. So we healed him in complete silence."

"The Federation guy…when he woke up, we tried to know his name. But the crash had shattered his memory. He recalled only tiny bits which were a complete mess. One thing he was sure about was that he was fixing something, and a huge explosion took place. He was a mechanic; there was no doubt about that. Anyway, he barely knew his name. All we knew about him was that he was a member, or a former member, of Platoon 7. I knew that because my trainer told me that he remembered the power suit."

"Eventually, the guy's memory was getting back together, and he soon remembered who he was. He told us his name, but we didn't dare to call him by his real name, since he had so many enemies, and Aipotu was still independent from the Galactic Federation, and was very weak. So we nicknamed him 'Phoenix', since he was supposed to have died and somehow survived. He wanted to get back to Daiban, but we didn't have any ships in Aipotu that went to such an important destination. So my trainer came up with a plan."

"I would be sent to the Galactic Federation as a recruit and try to…well get a mission or something that would involve going home. Then I would try to bring Phoenix back to Daiban."

"My trainer wasn't a famous guy when he worked at the Federation, so he didn't want me to take his armor. So we built our own. Phoenix, as I mentioned, still had pieces of his power suit, and managed to grab a couple of scrap metal. He combined them, and made Zephyr."

"Once I was ready, I left and volunteered as a recruit. I was instantly accepted. I was gifted with amazing skills, but my trainer helped me exploit them and thanks to that, I was on the top of the list. You pretty much know the rest after that."

A heavy silence fell over everyone. Adam's stare had turned into a glare, as though threatening the boy that he'd better be telling the truth about his story. But he knew that it was pointless to glare. Lhikan had proven himself unable to lie. He was truthful, and a lie told be him was like him asking if he would find mud in a mud pie.  
"That explains it. Thank you." Adam spun around, and walked briskly out of the room, followed by Samus, who looked stunned.

Anthony remained behind, his eyes wide. "I'll…uh…leave you two alone." He ran to catch up with Samus and the commander.

When he was gone, Damara gave a questioning look to Lhikan. "What's gotten into them?" she asked.

"I think they just realized who I was talking about." he muttered. He gave her a worried glance.

* * *

Adam slammed the door to his quarters shut. He collapsed on his chair. He looked at his lucky charm, the small picture of Ian and Samus, with him on the background. Adam spun around once in his chair.

Lhikan was lying…he was dead.

But he looked so serious…besides, he doesn't know how to lie. He's too honest.

But why didn't he just say his real name? Was he scared of what the others might think of him?

No…Lhikan wasn't like that either…

Pieces of a ruined ship…explosion…Platoon 7…mechanic…It all collapsed on him. Relief, anguish and pain hit like bullets.

Adam leaned on his desk and buried his face in his hands.  
And for the first time for years, he sobbed, though he wasn't sure why.

The man Lhikan was talking about was none other than Ian Malkovich.

Adam's little brother.

* * *

Samus slumped in a chair in the meeting room. Crossing her arms and resting her head on them, she sighed.

Anthony entered the room, and carefully closed the door behind him. He leaned against it, his head down.

A long pause was known in between them. "So…" Anthony started. "Do you believe in his story?"

Samus looked at him. "I don't know what to think…" she sounded hurt. "Lhikan is telling the truth but…"

"But?"

"I dunno. I…" she paused for a moment and sighed. "Am so going to beat him up when I see him next time."

Anthony blinked. "Who? Ian or Lhikan?"

"Maybe both." she laughed and gave Anthony a bear hug.

"Who are you and what have you done to Samus?" Anthony asked, mocking fear and panic.

"I guess I'm just so happy to finally hear about him." Samus said. "But I'm still going to kill Ian the next time he stands in front of me."

Anthony laughed but he quickly stopped. He untangled himself from Samus's grip. "What do you think Adam's reacting to this?"

Samus's face turned grim. "There are two possibilities. Either he's like us, thrilled to hear that his brother is actually alive, or he's so relieved he will be trapped in a bad mood for a couple of days."

Anthony grimaced. "I hope it's the first. I don't want to face a moody Commander Adam for the rest of the mission. Remember when Ian…well…'died'? We couldn't ask Adam a question without getting thrown into kitchen duty for weeks or simply having to write a report?"

"Yeah." Samus grinned. She played with her fingers. "I…I guess I should check on him."

"How ironic. Normally, the father takes care of the child, but now, the child is taking care of the father."

"Oh shut up." Samus said. "Now move so I can open the door." She tried to push Anthony out of the way, but the large man simply leaned harder on the metal door, crossing his arms behind his head, whistling a tune to himself. Samus tried to push and pull him, but the bulky man didn't move a muscle. "Get. Out. Of. The. Way." she said between her teeth as she gave Anthony a huge shove, to which he didn't eve, budge.

"You've become tough." Anthony said sarcastically.

"Just freaking move already!" Samus made a karate kick, aiming for his groin, but Anthony twisted, and the foot hit the thigh instead. "DAMN YOU!"

Anthony continued to whistle his tune, when the door suddenly jerked open, and Anthony fell backwards, and landed on his back, sprawled on the floor, in front of a very confused Maurice.

"Um...what's going on?" he asked.

Samus jumped past Anthony and waved at the man. "Thanks for the help." She ran down the aisle towards Adam's room.

Anthony climbed to his feet. "Great. I'm gonna feel that in the morning." he grumbled. He stared at Maurice. "What did you want anyway?"

"I…well I heard some noises coming from here, so I came to check it out." he explained. "Besides, Lhikan said that you owed him ten credits. God knows why though."

Anthony rolled his eyes. He suddenly perked up. "Wait, do you have twenty credits?"

"Ten I think. Why?" He dug out ten credits out of his pocket, and handed them to Anthony.

"Listen, I asked you for twenty, but you only gave me ten, so you still owe me ten right?"

"I…I guess."

"Good. And since I took ten credits, I owe you ten credits, right?"

"Right."

"So since we both owe ten credits to one another, we don't pay each other because it's pointless, got it? Good, now see ya." Anthony bolted down the ship, before Maurice had time to answer.

* * *

Samus knocked on Adam's door. She waited a moment before knocking again. A deep and calm "Come in" came from inside.

Samus carefully pushed the door open, and saw Adam sitting at his desk, looking even more emotionless than ever. The only thing that gave a hint of emotion was his eyes. They were red, like he had been crying.

As soon as he saw her, Adam relaxed and allowed himself to show some emotion. His face twisted a little, and he slumped on the back of his seat. "Yes Samus?" He asked.

"I…I wanted to see if you were all right. Hearing about Ian being alive is huge news, and…and I wanted to see if you would be…well…fine."

Adam nodded. "Thanks for the concern. I'm fine. Just a shaken by the news."

"Any brother who hears that his younger brother who is supposed to be dead, is actually alive three years later is a shock."

An uncomfortable silence settled in the room. Samus noticed a small gleam in the Commander's eyes. Worry. Did he know something that she didn't? She tried to read more, but reading thoughts from Adam was equivalent to trying to break a rock with a feather. She decided to talk to him, though she doubted that it would help. "What's the matter? You look…worried."

Adam moved in his seat "I knew every single member who was once part of Platoon 7. But Lhikan's trainer was unknown to me. I did some research, but came up with nothing. So I asked Lhikan."

**_Flashback_**

_"Lhikan, you mentioned your trainer several times. You said he was a former member of Platoon 7. But I don't know him, and there are no records of a soldier leaving to Aipotu in the database. Can you name him?"_

_Lhikan thought. "He…he was a member. He said he was betrayed and someone destroyed everything he had and which he believed in. He became a bounty hunter, seeking revenge. When he arrived to Aipotu, he wanted to destroy us since we were really eager to be a member of the Galactic Federation. But he changed his mind. We didn't care what happened. He…well we saw him a hero. So he stayed there and trained us. He still has a grudge, but he gave up on trying to destroy the Federation. He only wants revenge on the person who betrayed him."_

_"So who is he?"_

_Lhikan looked nervous. "No one really knows his real name. He…well he calls himself Sylux."_

**_End of Flashback_**

Samus's eyes went wide and her hand went straight over to cover her mouth in shock. "You're…you're not serious. Sylux?"

Adam nodded slowly. "You know Lhikan. It's pointless to argue. He told me what he knew."

"But…Sylux…" pieces of a puzzle fell into place. "That's why he recognized Ian almost instantly. Ian was friends with everyone, and he looks a lot like you…"

Adam said nothing. "All I can do is hope that Sylux doesn't want him…I couldn't…I wouldn't…" he sighed deeply. Clearly worry was beginning to take over, and Samus couldn't blame him.

Sylux was known all over the Federation. He had been a member, one of their most prized and valued warriors. He had been Samus's mentor before she joined Adam's legion.

One day, all of a sudden, he just turned…bad. Really bad. He stole banned weapons from the Galactic Federation, and attacked all the troops that came from the Federation. He became Samus's greatest enemy, and whenever they'd meet, their encounter would turn into a death match.

After a while though, Sylux just mysteriously disappeared from the face of the Galaxy. No warning, nothing. Rumors said he died, but no one was convinced. Sylux had proven himself almost impossible to kill. Nevertheless, the population had relaxed and became relieved of the news.

"Listen, I'll scout up ahead. I'll go to Aipotu and see if I can find Ian. If Sylux is there, I'll think of what to do. If he gets in the way, I'll knock him off the side of the planet. If he's as Lhikan has described, then we'll see. How's that?"

Adam stared up at her. "And to think that I always give orders to you…ironic." He chuckled. He got up. "Anyway, you're allowed to go. I've checked the charts, and it appears that Aipotu is in the system called 'Lertia'."

Samus smiled. "Thanks Adam." She gave him a quick and awkward hug before sprinting towards the door.

"Oh, and one thing-no two."

Samus stopped. She turned, her eyebrow raised.

"First, you're forbidden to use your ice beam. Missiles are to be used only if Sylux attacks. No Power Bombs either okay?"

Samus rolled her eyes. "Yes commander." se said.

"And two, if you manage to bring Ian back, no romantic moments. I'm serious there." Adam said, his emotionless face back on. Samus blushed, but grinned. She gave him the thumbs down.

"See ya Adam." She half shouted, closing the door behind her.

* * *

A small ship shot out of the _Stained Moon_ and headed away into deep space.

Samus pressed a few buttons in the controls, downloading the coordinates of Aipotu. She placed her palm on the steering sphere,

She was eager to find the mechanic again, but also felt a strange feeling. A feeling of some mission, or job that needed to be completed.

She knew what she had to finish. She wanted to find Ian, but she also wanted to save her former mentor.

Sylux.

"Ian. Sylux. Here I come."

* * *

Aipotu turned out being a small green planet. To her surprise, it wasn't exactly a planet. It was a natural satellite rotating around a huge gas planet, hostile to all kind of life forms. Found in the very borders of the Galactic Federation, the system was a binary system.

Samus wondered how life in Aipotu managed to exist. She spun her steering sphere, and headed towards the planet.

* * *

Samus walked out of her ship and into a large plain. Keeping her Power Suit on just in case if there were any monsters, she scanned the fields, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

She walked up a hill, and looked down the steep slope. At the bottom was a very small village. She decided to make her way there.

When she reached it, she was instantly assaulted by three children who were about five or six years old.

An adorable girl with brown hair and eyes ran to her, giggling hugely. "Lhikan! We missed you so much!" she grabbed Samus's leg, and gave it a huge hug.

"Lhikan! You're back!" A boy cried, running to her, followed by another girl, this one had black hair and blue eyes. She was laughing.

Samus realized why Lhikan got his childish nature: he must be the one taking care of them.

"Lhikan, is that really you?" a voice Samus instantly recognized said.

A door opened, and a tall man, one who shared many similarities with Adam, walked out. He took two steps forward till he realized that the suit wasn't Zephyr, but a Varia suit.

"N…no way. Samus?"

Samus felt all her emotions spinning out of control inside her. Trying to control her tears, she deactivated the Vario suit which shone, and melted away, revealing herself in her Zero Suit. "H…Hi Ian."

**DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNN! THE MEETING HAS TAKEN PLACE! WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT? **

**Okay, review people! Reviews make me happy!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry I took so long to update. But school is so close and I want to prepare. Not to mention that my dad is now staring at my back, wondering what the hell I'm doing on the computer...meh.  
Y****ou should also blame Minecraft. Stupid Herobrine appeared in my game and I was so focused on trying to figure out his secrets that I forgot about this story.**

**Anyway, good news here. IANMUS HAS APPEARED! AND SYLUX AS WELL! I gave Sylux a really sad past. It was really hard to write. **

**That's about all I have to say. ENJOY THE UPDATE!**

"S-Samus? Is that really you?" Ian stammered. He was completely stunned.

Samus untangled herself from the children and walked up to him. Just when she was face-to-face with him, she grabbed his face, and kissed him fully on the mouth. Almost instantly, she broke the kiss, and gave him the biggest slap she could muster, leaving a reddish mark on the man's cheek.

"That was for playing dead for three months." She snapped. "Do you have ANY idea how sick we were when you…when we thought you died?"

Ian scratched the back of his head. He suddenly found his boots very interesting. "I…well…there's a good explanation."

"Yeah. Lhikan told us all about it." Samus said.

Ian's eyes went wide. A smile grew on his face. "Lhikan? Is he okay? I was worried he wouldn't make it at the HQ. He's not the exact profile for a recruit."

Samus arched her eyebrow. "He's fine. Now how about you start explaining your side of the story. Will ya?"

"Uh, sure. But first." He turned to the three children who were watching the whole scene in acute interest. "Kids, time to go home. I'll catch up."

"Wait." The brown haired girl asked, shaking her little arms in the air. "Who's the really pretty lady?"

Ian grinned. "All right. Children, meet your heroine, Samus Aran."

There was an awkward silence, as the three children took their time to digest the information. Finally, the brown haired girl spoke. "Samus is…a girl?"

Samus looked down at the small group. "Yes. Why?"

"I thought girls were afraid of everything!" the boy said. "Boys are supposed to be really brave."

"That's not true." The black haired girl said. "You're afraid of the dark and we're not."

Soon, all three children were locked up in a heated argument.

Samus looked at Ian, who was turning red in effort not to laugh. "That's enough kids. Home with you."

The three children stopped bickering and ran back to a wooden house, chasing each other.  
When they were out of sight, Samus spoke. "So. Who are they?"

Ian grinned. "The brown haired girl is May, the boy is called Jaden and the black haired girl is called Annie. We're…well at first, Lhikan and his trainer left the villages to be able to train without being bothered. Eventually, they ran into the kids and Lhikan decided to look after them. His trai-"

"I know it's Sylux." Samus said.

"Ah...okay then. Sylux didn't care as long as they didn't bother him. So Lhikan took them in, and with a couple of friends, decided to look after them. The kids adore him."

"I figured that out. Now who else haven't I met? Other than Sylux."

Ian gestured at her to follow him into a large wooden house. "Here's the area where we sleep. Sylux has his Delano 7" he explained. "For your question, not really. Some people have come here to live, but there's almost no one in particular. Aipotu is really just a small planet with no importance."

"You sound relaxed." Samus noted.

Ian looked surprised. "What?"

"I mean, Sylux is still responsible for numerous attacks on the Federation, and yet here you are, the brother of Adam Malkovich, one of the representative figures of the Federation, living on the same planet as that criminal, and you're not afraid. Now tell me bolts for brains, while we have been busy trying to get over your…death, what were you doing? Eating apples like nothing ever happened?" she snapped.

Ian's eyes fell to the ground. "Listen…I know the pain and worry I've caused to all of you, but I really tried to get back to the HQ. I really did. It's just…It wasn't easy. You know why. Lhikan must've told you. Memory loss, no way to get to Daiban without raising suspicions, and…well someone had to take care of the kids." He added, looking back at the door, where May, Jaden and Annie were peeking in, thinking that they had not been seen.

Samus nodded sarcastically. She seemed to be debating on something.

"I know that look." Ian said. "What are you thinking about?"

"I want to kiss you and strangle you at the same time. I don't know which one to pick." She admitted.

Ian grinned. "I'd prefer the kiss option." He said. He opened his arms, and tried to hug her, but a huge 'WOOOO' stopped him. He turned to face the three children who had been witnessing the entire conversation. He made a face. "Bed time." He said.

The three children started whining about not being tired, but Ian simply picked them up one by one, and dragged them upstairs.

Samus rolled her eyes and looked around. Deciding that the room itself wasn't interesting, she decided to do some exploring.

"Going around visiting Bolts for Brains!" she shouted to Ian.

She walked out of the house, and took a stroll around the tiny village. Passing some wooden cabins and ignoring the stares some villagers were giving her, she ended up turning a corner, hoping that she might be able to find something interesting.

And boy she did.

The Delano 7 was there, parked, its rail open, as though inviting her to enter. The turret was quiet, resting in its small bay. The lights were all out.

* * *

Normally Samus would've instantly activated her zero suit, causing her armor to appear. She would've raised her arm canon and blasted down the door and rip the whole ship apart in search for the former Galactic Federation warrior.

And yet something stopped her.

She remembered Lhikan saying that he had given up trying to destroy the Federation entirely, that he was only seeking revenge on one person. Another thing; was Sylux really as bad as everyone, including her, had thought? He had helped Ian. That alone was enough to make her question her point of view.

Samus sighed to control her thoughts. Gripping her stun gun tightly in one hand, she slowly proceeded into climbing the rail and into the ship.

* * *

Samus scanned the entrance of the ship. The inside was smaller than it seemed. It was a small room which contained three doors.

The first one, the one on her right, was locked. She guessed that it headed towards the cockpit. The other two were in the back.

The first one was unlocked. Inside was a small room that was covered with computers which had readings of everything of the Galactic Federation. Even the most classified readings. Samus wondered how Sylux had managed to get a copy of all the documents, which were only seen by the Chairman himself.

The final door was locked. Samus guessed it led to his room. It was closed with an electric lock-combination. "Like that's gonna stop me." Samus muttered while raising her stun gun, and firing at the lock.

The stun gun didn't damage the lock, but it did create short circuits that could unlock the combination. After three successive shots, the small light on the machine when green, and the door whirred open.

Inside was a small, dark room littered with papers, books and small mechanisms. Samus took a step in. The bed was undone, and on it lay a grey laptop which seemed to be off. Against the wall was the blue/green powers suit that had been stolen from the Federation. Samus took a step towards it. She reached out, and gently stroked the cold metal. Even without a body inside, she could feel like the suit was furious, sick with both pain and anger.

"You that it's disrespectful to trespass."

Samus spun around, Just at the doorway, holding a gun aimed at her forehead, was the former legendary warrior of Platoon 7, Sylux.

* * *

"Sylux…" Samus whispered. She hadn't seen his face for three years. Despite the vague images she still remembered about her former mentor, Sylux had changed enormously. His brown hair was completely untidy, shooting in all directions. His handsome features were ruined by his dull and cold face, and an old scar traced down his left cheek. But what really struck Samus were his eyes. They still had their electric blue color, but instead of being full of pride, serious, and full of experience, they were just…dull. They revealed a certain person Samus had never seen before. Someone who had lived through everything. The best and the very worse. A person who was once good, but who was shamely betrayed, torn to pieces, forgotten.

"I could shoot you here. It would be satisfying to finally be able to put an end to our rivalry, but I made a promise to my student. I think I'll give you serious injuries and leave you to rot outside." Sylux answered emotionlessly.

Samus knew it was pointless to raise her stun gun. She'd never have time to shoot. Despite her agility, Sylux was capable of ladging a bullet in her head before she could even side-step. "Why are you here?" she asked.

"Where else to go? I thought about staying here for a while, reloading my ship with supplies before getting out of here. But it seems that the inhabitants here aren't aware of my…ah…'betrayal'."

Samus felt anger pulsing inside her. So basically he was just hiding behind them? That coward. "So you just run and hide? Not much of a warrior are you?"

Sylux didn't even budge at the taunt. "Warriors don't fight forever. They rest. That's how they become stronger. But that's something you'll never understand, since you're no warrior. You're just a girl trying to find her place in this galaxy."

"I found my place."

"Yeah right. You're constantly betrayed. Everyone lies, betrays each other."

Samus glared. "That coming from the best soldier who dumped everyone who put their faith in him." she shouted. "How could you? Why did you just leave us like this? Why did you betray us like that?"

Her words had a huge impact on Sylux. The man reeled back, and lowered his gun. His eyes went wide, and suddenly, emotion flooded them. "You…you think that I just left?" he said softly. He looked down at a small button that was on the wall next to him. Samus wondered what it did.

Sylux clicked it.

A dim light shone lit a frame on the wall just next to Samus. Samus looked at it. It was the front page of a newspaper. She gasped at what was written. "No…"

In large black letters, it was written '**_A LEGEND. A TRAITOR'_**. Right under it was a black and white picture of Sylux on fours. He was standing on the body of a man that appeared to be a soldier of the Galactic Federation. "How…" she didn't remember reading this.

"Three months after you arrived to the Federation, I was sent with a couple of soldiers to try to attempt to bring the fleet of the Space Pirates down." Sylux explained calmly. "I was confident. I was with both lieutenant Callins and Jacob. We were three of the very best. Our job wasn't difficult. But…something got in the way." he took a deep breath. "Colonel Riegerix."

Samus looked at him, her eyes wide. "Wait…I know the Colonel is weird and doesn't respect all the laws, but he's still someone with a certain sense of honor. He never betrayed his troops." she said.

Sylux waited till he was sure she had finished. "Colonel Riegerix was supposed to meet us at the center of the mothership, but something else met us. The most elite Space pirates. You could think that we were unlucky, or it was a coincidence or something, but we chose every path very carefully, and the area we were was the quietest and safest place of the entire ship. We were the only ones supposed to be there at that time. There was a traitor in the army. Anyway, the three of us fought madly. Eventually, we got overwhelmed and had to fall back."

"Callins was the first to die. He contacted Commander Adam that there was a traitor. He was shot cowardly from behind. A fully charged blast hit him in the neck. He instantly died. Jacob and I ran away. We eventually ran into the legion Starcatcher A93 led by the Colonel Riegerix. We didn't know he was the traitor at first. We warned him about the ambush. We split up. The legion was divided and were ordered to fall back."

"Riegerix, Jacob and I ran towards one of the escape capsules. That's when we realized that he was the one. He told us that the capsules could only hold in one person. Jacob was the first one to suggest that Riegerix escaped. He was eager to please everyone, very proud and wanted to die fighting. Riegerix granted his wish. He activated some sort of mechanism and the wall exploded. All the space pirates started to flood in the room."

"He said that they promised him to make him stronger, richer and greater than ever. He ordered the pirates to attack. The colonel escaped. Jacob and I eventually won, but the results weren't pretty. Jacob was both blind and had a punctured lung. I was grievously injured. We managed to get out of there and head back to HQ. Well, I managed. Jacob died on the way back."

"When I arrived, the shock was incredible. Everyone had thought we had all died. I was given the best medical attention. I wanted to tell everyone what happened, but I was too weak to do so. I had to wait."

"When I got out of the hospital, one year later, there were rumors. Not any kind of rumors, real ones, ones which caused even the most trusted friends to doubt you. Someone told them that I had annihilated the entire Starcatcher A93 legion. I got those injuries in the battle. I didn't even know they had all been killed." Sylux continued.

"People began to avoid me. Some even tried to kill me. I had lost everyone. I was alone, I had no one to act as a witness to my defense. Only Commander Adam believed me to be innocent." He paused for a moment.

"What happened next?" Samus asked. Curiosity was getting the best of her

"Adam knew that he wouldn't be able to keep on shielding me forever. So he gave me the possibility of a doubt. I gladly took it. He sent me to Cyclosis with a couple of other soldiers. There was a powerful weapon being produced there, and Adam wanted the production to stop, especially that Cyclosis wasn't exactly close to the Federation. When I reached the laboratory where the weapon was being built, all of us, I and the other soldiers were attacked. Once again, I was the only survivor. I knew that if I failed to get the weapon to safety, I was done for. I reached it, and it turned out being a power suit." Sylux gestured to the one resting behind Samus. "I began doing a quick research on it, and I found out that it was being built by the same guy who betrayed us. Not only that, but the weapons and technology used were banned. I also found something else. The production of that weapon was signed by none other than Adam Malkovich. I had to take it away. To make it easier to transport, I put it on, and hurried back to the ship. Just in time to see a legion of soldiers run down towards me. They were yelling at each other about some criminal they had to kill. I quickly found out that that criminal was me. That's when I lost it. I attacked. The man on the picture there was the first to die. He never knew what hit him."

"I killed the entire legion. I was outraged. I swore to destroy the Federation entirely. It had been fake. The protection, the friendship, everything. I couldn't take it anymore. Someone had to stop it." He looked outside a small window. A couple of children were playing in the grass. "The Federation cheated on everyone." he said softly. "I managed to warn this planet about it. They joined but I know they're cautious. Do you see these children? I want them to be free. I don't want them to be lied at, used."

Samus glared, and felt her anger begin to take the best of her. "You're saying this, while they don't even know what horrors you've committed?"

Sylux sent her a death glare. He took a step out of the way. "Just take your boyfriend and get out of here." he snapped.

Samus began to walk slowly out of the room. When she was at the same level as Sylux, she felt a strong grip on her arm. She glared at Sylux. "What do-"

"Do you remember when you wanted to save your Chozo family? And Adam was reluctant to give you permission? You should start thinking about why." he said softly.

Samus felt the grip on her arm slacken. She stormed out of the ship, not looking back.

* * *

Samus walked into the wooden house where Ian was standing in front of, his arms crossed. His eyes narrowed when he saw her gloomy expression. "Is something the matter?" he asked

Samus shook her head. Thoughts of what Sylux had said spun madly in her head. She'd need time to digest it entirely. "Just tired. Look, Adam wants me to be back as soon as possible. I was hoping to leave tonight. Is it possible?" she asked him.

Ian thought. "I put the kids to bed. They'll-"

"DON'T GO IAN!" someone shouted upstairs

Ian rolled his eyes. He walked up to the stairs and yelled. "JADEN, GO TO SLEEP NOW!"

"BUT IAN-"

"DON'T MAKE ME GET UP THERE AND PUNISH YOU!"

"BUT-"

"BED! NOW! OR I'LL NEVER COME BACK! AM I CLEAR?" Ian yelled.

Jaden instantly shut up. Ian waited for a few seconds, and he walked back towards Samus, who had her eyebrows raised. He grinned sheepishly. "The kids love me." he explained. "I'll leave a note telling them I've gone to meet my brother. I'll ask our neighbors if they can look after them." Ian said.

Samus nodded. "All right then." She grinned. "At least you'll be a good father to our kids." she said.

Ian flushed brightly. "I'll be fine as long as they don't have feathers." he said.

Samus looked totally confused, but she soon caught on. She facepalmed. "Having Chozo genes only affects my abilities. Not appearances. I'm not a stupid bird for heaven's sake."

Ian laughed. "Whatever. Come on, let's get ready."

**Yeah, I know this chapter is short compared to the previous ones, but I wasn't intending on having this one be so long. I just wanted to introduce both Sylux and Ian. **

**Lol. Feathers. Don't ask where that came from. For Sylux, the colonel Riegerix is inspired by The Colonel, the guy that orders Melissa (aka MB) to die at the end of Metroid the Other M. **

**For Adam being reluctant of sending Samus to save the chozo comes from the manga. It's not official, but when I read the manga, I had a feeling Adam wasn't exactly keen, so that explains why I put that there. **

**I don't know when I'll reupdate. Hopefully, it'll be in one or two weeks, but just be sure to wait for three weeks in case school starts with a serious bang.**


	9. Chapter 9

**All righty then, here's the next chapter. Sorry for the wait, and I'm afraid you'll have to wait longer: it seems that the library at school will be closed. D: No cool. SO wirting will slowed down sharply.**

**Anyway, IAN AND ADAM MEET AGAIN! There are some major parts in this chapter, though it's mostly humor. **

**ENJOY!**

Samus slumped in the pilot's seat, gently caressing the steering sphere with her hand. She stayed silent due to her mixed feelings. She had never been so happy, now that Ian was alive and able to go back to Daiban, but she also felt sorry for Sylux. She had always thought he had coldly betrayed the entire Galactic Federation, but it turned out that the reason he left was completely different. But there was one thing that really nagged her.

Why had he let her go?

He had constantly tried to kill her, using ruthless ways, and not hesitating in openly risking his own life to do so. And here he could've ended her just by pulling the trigger of his gun.

And yet he didn't.

Why? Now that she knew the story, was he expecting her to join him?

Samus took a deep breath and thought carefully. She wasn't Sylux, so she couldn't be sure. But maybe…maybe he wanted Adam to know the truth. Adam had protected Sylux before. Maybe that's why he kept her alive. He was sill grateful for what Adam had done. Yeah, that was probably it.

There was the sound of someone slumping in the shotgun seat. Ian crossed his legs and arms. "So. What's up? The kids are waiting for you to take off. They want to see the ship fly. Not only that, but I kinda want to meet my brother again. You think he'll be happy to see me?"

Samus shrugged. "He was kinda beaten up when he heard you were alive. I think he'll beat you up."

Ian rolled his eyes. "So much for a loving brother."

"Says the guy who played dead for three months." Samus instantly countered.

Ian flushed. "Let's just go."

* * *

The little red shuttle shot across the starry sky, and veered in a circular ring around a small shuttle, the _Venomous Hell_. Samus switched on the mike.

"The _Stealth Hunter_ is demanding authorization to land." Samus said.

She got an answer almost instantly. "_Samus, head towards docking bay and land in the stationary number 44._" She recognized Maurice's voice.

"Gotcha. I'm on my way." Samus gently turned the sphere and the ship tilted starboard, heading under the _Venomous Hell._ She gave a quick glance at Ian.

He was shifting every five minutes, and playing with his fingers. "Nervous?" she asked.

Ian nodded. "Totally. I wonder how Adam looks like now…"

Samus rolled her eyes. "Ian, you were…gone, for three months. Not ten years. Adam isn't a grandpa."

"I know. But still…Does Lhikan know I'm coming?"

"Nope. He was planning on picking you up himself."

Ian grinned. "I want to see his face when I pop up. Hello, I'm the ghost of Ian and I am here to haunt-OW what was that for?"

"Just act your own age."

* * *

Samus landed the ship in the docking bay. She climbed out and saw Adam standing at the end of the rail, his arms behind his back, his face unreadable as ever. "I was waiting." He said calmly.

The blond nodded at him. "Ian is well alive. And he's…well I brought him back." When she finished, Ian walked down the rail, nervousness written on his face. He walked up to his brother. Adam stared at him, but no emotion was being revealed. Ian, however, was eyeing his boots, clearly wondering whether his own brother was going to kill him, break down in happiness or simply just be…well normal.

Samus, sensing the awkwardness growing, wanted to interfere, but she met Adam's gaze. She rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation. Adam was purposely making things awkward. And she remembered Anthony saying how awesome it was to have brothers and sisters…  
"Ian." Adam finally said, his voice even. "Follow me to my office. We have some catching up to do." With that, he turned on his heel, and walked out of the docking bay, followed by his brother. "Samus, write down a report on what happened with Sylux. If you want to find Anthony, he'll be in the ship's headquarters."

Samus watched them leave. When they were out of sight, she decided to take Adam's offer to find Anthony. She needed some distraction for a while.

* * *

Adam led Ian to his office, and ordered him to enter. Once they were both in, he carefully closed the door behind him, and faced his brother. Slowly, his face twisted into a grin, and he walked towards his brother.

Ian, grinned back. "Hi Adam." He closed the distance between him and the commander. "I'm sorry I-" He never got to finish. Just when Adam was about to hug him, Adam gave Ian a huge, massive blow.  
"YOU BASTARD!" Adam shouted, delivering another blow. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW I FELT WHEN YOU DIED?"

Ian, rubbing his chest and cheek, smiled sheepishly. "Well, technically speaking, I haven't-"

"DON'T EVEN START WITH YOUR CORRECTIONS AND ALL!" Adam yelled. "YOU'VE GOT SOME SERIOUS EXPLAINING TO DO!" After delivering a final blow, he gave his brother a bone-crushing hug. "You had no idea…" he whispered.

Ian was so confused. First his emotionless brother was actually showing emotion. Second, he looked like he was ready to fire him down a blind hyperspace path, and now, he looked like someone who needed a hug. "Ummm…bro? I…I uh…"

"You are going to shut up and do as I tell you from now on, okay?" Adam said, pulling away but not breaking eye contact. "How in the world did you survive?"

Ian scratched the back of his head. "Well, you see, when the reactor began to blow, I tried to stay calm and keep it together. Naturally, that didn't work. When I realized I couldn't escape, since the ship and the rector had been separated, I reached some sort of room. It was tiny. I was barely capable of climbing in it. Anyway, I go in, and shut the door. I took off a part of my suit and placed it on the door." He explained. "It resisted the explosion, and got blown away. Since I knew thatI probably wouldn't be able to live for very long, I activated an update I attached to my suit. It was some sort of hibernation thing. It dropped all forms of temperature, and forced me into deep sleep." Ian continued his story. "When I woke up, I had no idea how much time had passed. I wanted to know where I was, but the small room began to heat up. But it was becoming REALLY hot. And I knew we were falling. When we hit the ground, I fainted, and got my memory shattered. It was a rough landing you know."

"I was found by Sylux and Lhikan. They took care of me and healed me back to health. I got the nickname 'Phoenix' since I survived something that I wasn't supposed to survive. But anyway, since my memory was broken, I couldn't remember where I came from. So I didn't see why I should go back to Daiban or something. I didn't even know you existed. But eventually, I remembered. Sylux was a great help. He tried to jog my memory by showing me pictures of some people of the Federation."

"Such as?" Adam asked.

"Well, you, Chairman Keaton, Anthony, Samus and some other dudes." Ian answered.

"And who did you remember?"

Ian felt his inward temperature rocket skyward. Samus had been the only one, but he didn't dare to say it. His brother had always been up to some sort of trick, being so overprotective of the blond soldier; he didn't even approve the idea of Ian being friends with her. He gave a reason that went like '_Ian, Samus deserves someone a whole lot smarter that you._' But for some reason, he allowed Anthony to befriend her. "Just Keaton" He lied.

Adam eyed him suspiciously. "Go on."

"Well," Ian continued. "When I remembered everything, Lhikan insisted that he joined as a recruit, since it was the only way for me to have some sort of link with the Federation. So, he joined, and thanks to Sylux's rough training, he became one of the top. You know the rest."

Adam waited for a while to digest the information. He slumped back in his chair and looked in exasperation at his little brother. "Why didn't you just go and act as a recruit?" he asked. "Wouldn't it be a whole lot simpler?"

Ian sweat-dropped. He mentally beat himself for going to the extreme to make a plan. Well, Lhikan came with it…No wonder Sylux face-palmed and said they were total idiots when they told him how amazing their plan was.  
Adam rolled his eyes. "So much for being a genius right? Now here's your little punishment for worrying me to death. You have to act as Platoon 7's new mechanic. And you're on kitchen duty till the end of the mission. Got it? You're rooming with me. I have to babysit you. Now get out of here." He said, trying not to smile.

Ian pouted. "Can't I room with someone else?"

Adam's eyes glowered. "Someone else like Samus?"

Ian's face instantly flared. "Knock it off. That happened nearly a year ago. I was thinking of Lhikan…"

"And see the ship in debris in the morning? No. You're rooming with me. End of story."

Ian pretended to sob. "My brother hates me." He moaned.

Adam glared at him. "Ten minutes with you and you're already a pain. Maybe you should've died back in the reactor. You know what…?" He opened a drawer.

Ian freaked out, thinking he knew what his brother was taking out. "I'll…uh…Seeyoulater." He bolted out of the room, as though the entire fleet of the kriken army was at his tail.

Adam looked completely confused. "What in the world?" He found what he was looking for: his frame with him, his brother and Samus. He smiled at it. "Maybe this thing actually was a lucky charm…"

* * *

Samus found Anthony going through some files. She took a chair next to him, and sat down. He didn't notice her, and continued to rummage through the papers. "Dammit, where'd I put it?"

Samus raised her eyebrows. "Looking something?"

"Oh hi Samus. How was your mission?" Anthony replied without looking up. "And yeah, a yellow folder with all the records of Captian Kyna. I can't find it!"

Samus looked around the table. She looked back at Anthony and nearly face palmed. Grabbing a folder sitting in his lap, she hit him on the head with it. "Is it this?"

Anthony looked at her in confusion. He scanned the folder and grinned sheepishly. He held out his hand for it. "Please?"

Samus eyed him carefully, and placed the file in his palm. "What is it?" she asked.

"Oh, some plans on the capital of the Kriken Empire. I found it on my previous raid with James…By the way, did you bring In back? Where is he? I want to meet him again!"

"Ian's with Adam. Not sure how things are going back there." She said. She suddenly perked up. "Wait, where are Lhikan, Lyle and Maurice? I haven't seen them since I got here?"

"Oh, Commander Adam sent them to destroy a small city we've passed not so long ago. They should be here soon. Any luck with Sylux?"

Samus looked in surprise. "Wait, how do you know about Sylux?"

"Lhikan told me about his trainer." Anthony explained.

"Oh. Well, no, not really no. I wasn't able to bring him back." Samus said silently. She didn't say more. She wanted to ask Adam about Sylux's story before announcing his past to everyone.

Anthony looked at her. He could tell that she was holding back some information, but didn't press the subject. He continued to go through the file. "Samus, about-"

He was interrupted by a door sliding open, and Ian raced past the two of them, his face pale. He looked around the room wildly. "There!" He cried, and dove under the table as though the ceiling was collapsing.  
Samus yelped at pushed her chair back, while Anthony got up and took a quick step backwards. "I-Ian? What in the world?"

"MY BROTHER WANTS TO KILL ME!"

Samus rolled her eyes. "Okay, what did you do this time?"

"NOTHING!"

Anthony peeked down under the table. "Um Ian? It's good to see you again?" he asked.

There was a pause, and hands shot out, grabbing Anthony and giving him a bear hug. "ANTHONY! I missed you so much old buddy!"

Anthony made a squeaking sound that could've been a 'yes' or a 'help', but Ian took it as a 'yes'.

Suddenly the door slid open, and Lyle, Lhikan and Maurice walked in. Lhikan spoke. "Mission couple-oh god Ian. I had no idea you were in this kind of stuff."

Ian let go, and looked at Lhikan. But Anthony wasn't going to let his friend get picked on.

"Heeey Lhikan. At least he doesn't flirt with the medic." He said.

Lhikan instantly turned scarlet. "It was an accident!" he cried.

Samus looked at Anthony. "Wait, he was flirting with Damara?"

"I WAS NOT!"

Anthony was about to say something, but the sound of heavy boots silenced everyone. Adam walked in, his hands behind his back. "Lhikan. How did the mission go?"

Lhikan, whose face was now turning back to normal color saluted. "Commander, we have completed the raid as ordered."

"What was taken and damaged?"

"Oh well the city was pretty beaten up. I doubt it'll be back to normal soon. As for what we stole, we found a large HQ. We busted it up and stole a couple of interesting things. It was loaded with crystals, credits, and a good amount of gold too."

Anthony gaped. "You robbed a bank." He deadpanned.

Lhikan grinned. "It was fun. Getting away was a little tricky though. Maurice is a lot better with ships than he claims to be."

"I wish you didn't take so much enthusiasm in your work Lhikan." Adam said dryly.

"Hey," Lyle said, "An enthusiastic worker is an efficient worker, right?"

"Yes, but an enthusiastic pillager is a future pirate." Adam countered.

Lhikan and Lyle looked at each other as though this was news to them.

"I thought so. Lhikan, the next call to some Commander named Lyxia is going to take place soon, Get ready. And Ian, why did you run off like that?"  
Ian turned white again. "You were getting a gun out of your drawer. How am I supposed to feel?"

Samus could've sworn she saw Adam resist the urge to face-palm. "I was taking out a frame Ian. You've got to stop thinking I want to get back at you all the time." Without waiting for an answer, he turned, and walked out of the room.

"Oh…" Ian muttered, feeling a bit stupid at the moment. But he quickly recovered. "So Lhikan."

"Yeah?" the youngest member of the legion said while taking his armor off.

"One question."

"I gotta get ready for the report, so make it quick."

"Is it true you have hots for Damara?"

"Anthony, you're gonna die for making up this lie."

* * *

Samus raced after Adam. He was walking down the hallway towards his office, his hands behind his back, obviously in deep thought.

"Adam wait!"

The commander turned and saw Samus. She took a second to catch her breath before talking. "Adam…I need to talk to you. It's…it's about Sylux."

Adam stared into her emerald-green eyes and nodded. He opened the door to his office and gestured at her to enter.

"What is it?" he asked when he had shut the door behind him.

"When I met your brother back on Aipotu, I met Sylux. He…he told me his story." Samus said softly. "Adam is it true? Was Sylux really betrayed like he said? Did you protect him, and then order his death?"

Adam's face was as cold and emotionless as ever. "When Sylux returned from his mission against the mothership of the Space pirates, he was grievously injured. I heard from Colonel Riegerix that he had betrayed the entire legion, causing its destruction. I had no proof saying that he didn't do so. I wanted to know Sylux's side of the story."  
"When I heard what Sylux told me, I knew Riegerix wasn't done. Since he was only one who the truth the colonel was going to everything to silence Sylux. I had to protect him for as long as I could. I did what I could, but Admiral Dane believed Riegerix's words. Eventually, Sylux would not make it. I decided to form a mission that would at least give him the benefit of a doubt."

"When Sylux's new legion had left, the Chairman received a report signed by me that I had ordered his death. But I was one of the only people to keep Sylux alive, so clearly, he didn't believe it. When I heard of it, I tried to contact Sylux, hoping that I wasn't too late. But unfortunately, the soldiers had tried to kill him. None succeeded, but Sylux had changed. HE was no longer the warrior who had fought on our side. He became twisted, evil, deadly."

Samus took a while to let it sink in. "But…why did Sylux keep Ian alive? He was after you."

Adam took a while to answer. "Sylux was a close friend of Ian. He probably still believed him, and suspected that I didn't give the orders to kill him. My guess is that he thinks that Riegerix is responsible."  
Samus nodded. "What became of Colonel Riegerix?"

"I'm not sure. As far as I remember, he left his post a while ago. I haven't heard of him since."

* * *

Lhikan was seated on Captain Kyna's usual seat. Adam stood behind him with Anthony out of the projector's view. Samus was seated in the lieutenant's seat, watching her new-friend, wondering what he'll say.

Lhikan took a deep breath. He snapped his fingers. "Lyle, let's roll call."

The hologram shot on, and a huge Kriken stood there. He was much larger than the previous ones encountered, and his arms were thick, one with a large blade, the other with a boney hand which, Lhikan guessed, to be able to morph into a gun. "Commander Lyxia." Lhikan said. "I have come to present you my report of the past few months." Lhikan kept his voice even, though Samus noted some nervousness in it.

Lyxia stared at him. "I believe that it is time. But I'm afraid that your little report will have to wait. I have some more important news for you."

'_Wow. Straight-forward without missing a beat.'_ Samus thought.

"Such as?"

"We have known some crisis in the Military domain. The Federation has proven itself to be much more of a threat than we anticipated. They have flattened several armies at once. Your help will be necessary."

"Of course." Lhikan replied. "But I'm afraid that my ship is not one for battling. My small squadron is weak. We shall not be much of a…help."

"In that case," Lyxia said, "I have another job for you. These are the news I wanted to talk to you about. The _Stained Moon_ is being shadowed. Every single one of your stops have been utterly crushed. Venilus was your previous stop I believe."

"Of course." Lhikan answered. "We stopped by only hours ago. They were in complete increase of economy. Excellent for building weapons."

"It was destroyed. Pillaged. Wiped out. Same thing for _Venomous Hell_"

Lhikan's eyes went wide. "No…impossible. Who in the world…"

"Allow me to answer that." Lyxia said with infinite calm. "The Platoon 7 of the Galactic Federation."

Lhikan tensed. "Of course…only they would be foolish enough…"

"And they are led by their symbol: Adam Malkovich."

Lhikan grinned, though it was a bit nervous. "Join us at the rendez-vous point." He said. "We'll wait for them, and then we'll crush Adam and destroy the Galactic Federation's true pride."

Lyxia stayed silent. "I have a better idea. Let them capture you. Act as their prisoner, we'll strike them then."

Lhikan got up. "WHY YOU-"

Another hologram zapped to life next Lyxia. This kriken was huge. Four arms were attached to his back. On had a tentacle, two more had blades and the last one held a gun. Lhikan paled, and began to sweat in fear.

The Emperor.

He radiated power and authority. Even Lyxia looked like a wannabe soldier compared to him. He was a born-leader.

"M-my l-lord." Lhikan stammered. He heard a couple of grunts and growls coming from the other soldiers. He didn't dare to see who it was.

"Well well Kyna. I see that you are angry with the Commander." The Emperor said. His voice was steely.

"Any per-captain would be if they heard what Commander Lyxia had said." Lhikan stammered. Even if this was a hologram, Lhikan was scared of the kriken, it was like he was piercing his very heart.

"I see. Here are your orders. Go straight to meet the _Revenge_ in the Cobalteer System. There, we will assemble the greatest fleet, and crush the existence of the pathetic Galactic Federation. I'm counting on you to join us in time. It would be a shame for you to miss our great victory, wouldn't it Kyna?"

"Y-yes my lord."

"Then get to it. Do not make me call you again. Or I'll destroy both you and your crew you are so proud of. Now go!" The hologram winked out.

Lyxia hissed. "Don't keep me waiting 'Captain'." His hologram went out.

Lhikan turned to face Adam. "Um…Commander? What do we do?" he asked.

The Commander ignored him. He stayed as still and quiet as a rock. He clenched his fist. He turned around and walked out of the room.

"Anthony, warn Admiral Dane. Tell him to bring the fleet to the planet Latiara. Tell him operation Diamond. He'll know what it is. Three days."

Lhikan looked at Samus and then at Anthony. He shifted uneasily. Whatever the Commander had said, it was important, seeing their faces. "Um…what's going to happen?" he asked.

Samus looked at Lhikan. "The greatest battle the Galactic Federation has known is going to take place. We've made it. Now we're going to assault the Capital of the Kriken Empire." She said.

* * *

"So, any decent idea why we're back at the HQ?" Lhikan asked, his arms crossed behind his head.

The Platoon 7 had returned to the Galactic Federation HQ a few days ago. Commander Adam hadn't given the full reason, but the members suspected it was to prepare for war.

Lhikan, Anthony, Ian and Samus were seated in a circular table, having lunch.

"Preparation for war?" Ian said, eating a fry.

"But the krikens know about our tardiness. Won't they be a little suspicious?" Lhikan asked. "Look, I know that Commander knows what he's doing, but I'm just wondering."

Anthony shrugged. "Don't worry Lhikan. Commander Adam will have it all sorted out. He isn't called a strategist genius for nothing. He got past even the most dangerous missions."

Lhikan said nothing. "Still, I thought we weren't going to attack the Kriken Empire head on. Remember back during the briefing?"

Samus nodded. She smiled. "Do you really think we were the only ones doing our raids here?"

A trio entered the cafeteria: Chairman Keaton, Admiral Dane and Commander Adam.

Everyone got up and saluted, but Chairman Keaton waved his hand to dismiss them.

They walked up to their own table and sat down, they began talking between them. Probably still trying to figure out their next course of action.

"That reminds me of something." Ian said. He got up and walked towards his brother. "Hey Adam, can I talk to you just for a sec?"

Adam coughed loudly and began drinking his coffee as though nothing had happened.

Ian took the hint. He rolled his eyes and made an extremely sarcastic salute. "A moment of your time Commander?"  
Adam looked at him for a while, and then gestured at him to talk. "What do you want Ian?"

The younger brother glared at the Commander. "Did you change the lock of our dorm? My key doesn't fit in."

Adam nodded. "I did. Why?"

"Can I borrow your key to make a copy?"

Adam looked at his brother for a moment. He got up, and made a quick salute to the Admiral and the Chairman. "I'll be back in a minute." He led Ian back to his table, causing some people in the cafeteria to look in confusion. When he was standing directly behind Lhikan, and in front of Samus and Anthony, he spoke. "You wanted to borrow my key?" he said, a little louder than necessary.

Samus noted the small gleam in his eyes, the only hint of emotion in his face. '_This isn't good_' she thought. Whenever he had that gleam, he would be planning something really embarrassing for the person responsible.

"Um, yeah. I need to make a copy." Ian said, wondering what his brother was doing.

Adam stayed quiet for a moment. "No."

"What? Why not! I need to get in too!" Ian protested, unaware that the cafeteria was listening to the sibling's conversation.

"I don't trust you when it comes to rooms. I heard a couple of rumors that Samus left our quarters last night. Not to mention some…ah…noises. Care to explain what happened?"

Ian's face turned scarlet, he started saying some broken sentences. Samus felt her inside temperature rocket skyward. She realized that the ENTIRE place as silent, creating an awkward silence that was killing both her and Ian. She looked at her friends for help.

Anthony was looking down at his meal fighting hard not to laugh, while Lhikan was giving her a '_You're not serious_' look.

"Commander there's a good explanation to this." Lhikan stammered.

Adam's stone cold gaze left his brother and faced the young adult. "Yes?"  
"Well, you see…Ian invited us…well to celebrate the fact that Ian was back and well, we decided to party, and Ian invited us in his quarters. We watched TV, and I made a really crappy joke. As to make fun of me, Samus threw the remote at me. It hit the wall and it fell under the bed. When it hit the wall, it pressed a button, and the TV switched to a channel where some really inappropriate thing appeared. We struggled to get it off, and we eventually made it, though it took half of the night. Reaching the remote was hard. Good thing that Anthony's got big biceps and Samus is a lot flexible than expected."

Adam stared at the prodigy. He stared for long and so intently that Lhikan began sweat nervously. "Um…Commander?"

"Why didn't you just switch the TV off?" Adam asked.

Lhikan his face turning a little red scratched the back of his head. "I…I guess we didn't think about that option." He stammered.

Adam stayed silent. He leaned over and spoke directly in Lhikan's face, "A foolproof story. Indeed you do have some brains. What a shame that your story doesn't hold a second."  
"Um…why not?"

"I don't own a TV."

The entire cafeteria was filled with sniggering, and a couple of 'epic fails' could be heard.

Lhikan's face flared. He got up and blurted out; "WHAT KIND OF COMMANDER DOESN'T OWN A TV?" He quickly realized what he just said and clapped both his hands against his mouth.

Adam raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

Lhikan opened and closed his mouth, his face beef red. "I…uh…I…" he then bolted out the room, skidded to a halt in front of the doors. He made a quick salute. "Um…see ya Commander. Bye Chairman. Nice knowing you Admiral." And he raced away.

The cafeteria burst out laughing, which was silenced by Adam's upraised hand.  
The commander faced his brother. "When you'll see him next time, tell him that he's in kitchen duty for three weeks. And you," he stabbed a finger in Ian's chest. "are going to do some explaining this afternoon." He stared at Samus. "And you, lady, are going to join him with me."  
With that, he turned and walked back to his table, quite satisfied of his trick. Maybe this time, Ian won't be all over Samus like this.

* * *

Samus retreated into the training center, mostly to escape the giggles and whispers she was getting. Stupid Adam. How could he make fun of her like that! He'll pay for that!

She looked at the screen to see who was fighting in the virtual reality.

It was Lhikan.

She decided to join him. Climbing in one of the cylinders, she was about to activate it when the doors slid open and an embarrassed Ian followed by Anthony entered. "Sup guys?"

"We were looking for you. What are you doing?" Anthony said.

"I was going to join Lhikan. Want to come?"

Ian climbed into his own cylinder, imitated by Anthony.

Samus activated her own. The lid shut, and she closed her eyes and felt her mind go blank.

* * *

Lhikan was lying on the ground, sniping NPCs, vaping them one after the other.

"You okay?"

Lhikan turned to see the trio standing behind him. He shrugged. "Still trying to get rid of the embarrassment Commander Adam gave me."

Samus nodded. "Enjoying sniping NPCs?"

Lhikan nodded. "They make some weird noises when they die." He commented.

There was an awkward silence.  
Ian spoke up. "So, is this a private party, or can anyone join?"

Lhikan grinned. "So, here's the goal." He pointed to a crystal shaped thing floating on the ground. "That's an octolite. We have to grab it and keep it safe for as long as possible."

"Then why are you up here protecting it and not trying to get it?" Anthony said.

Lhikan smiled sheepishly. "I'm lazy." He turned. "Let's go!"

The four of them cheered and jumped off the ledge towards the octolite.

* * *

Adam looked left and right. Where in the world was Ian? He had to give him a document…

"Krystal, do you know where Ian went?" he asked a lady who was going through some papers.

Krystal thought for a moment. "I'm not sure…I saw Lhikan going to the training center though. Knowing Ian, he's probably with him."

Adam nodded. "Thank you." He walked briskly towards the training center.

The metal doors slid open to accept him. The first thing he registered was laughing. He turned and saw a group of people clustered around a screen of a virtual training process that was taking place. He decided to check it out.

He reached the group and cleared his throat. Everyone spun around and instant saluted, some of them struggling to keep straight faces. He dismissed them. "What's going on?" he asked.

A brown haired boy Adam recognized as being called Jimmy, explained. "It's Lhikan, Samus, Ian and Anthony. They're so funny." He said.

Adam nodded. He watched the training.

* * *

A missile screeched past Samus and exploded against a wall. She had managed to snag the octolite, but the NPCs were going after her shooting like madmen.

Anthony and Ian were holding them back, while Lhikan went out to scout ahead. They were doing a pretty good job so far-except for the time Anthony had tried to tackle an NPC, but missed and knocked Lhikan off his feet.

Samus saw a green armored human run towards her. She waved at him to get his attention. "Any luck? We're getting routed here!"

Lhikan slowed down. His face flushed with both excitement and worry. "There's a ship just ahead. But it's old and damaged. What do we do?"

"FIXING'S MY JOB!" Ian shouted, and ran as fast as he could past them, followed by Anthony.

Samus watched them run. A missile exploded right behind her, snapping her back to reality.

She ran as fast as she could.

* * *

The ship was grey, small and, as Lhikan had said, old. It had three reactors to give a boost.

Samus wondered how they possibly going to get it going. Ian and Lhikan and disappeared inside, and Anthony was crouched at the entrance, covering her.

Samus dove into the ship. "WHAT DO WE DO NOW?" she shouted over the noise of explosions.

"IAN'S GETTING THE ENGINES STARTED! IT WON'T BE LONG TILL-"

The reactors roared to life, and the ship slowly rose into the air.

Samus looked at Anthony, bewildered. "HOW IS HE DOING THAT?"  
"DON'T QUESTION A MECHANIC!"

The grey ship began to pick up speed, and soon, it was screaming down the dark alley, away from the NPCs.

Samus shut the door of the ship, and wandered inside with Anthony. "Um…guys?"  
"OVER HERE!"

Both of them walked till they reached the cockpit of the ship. Ian was piloting, and Lhikan was seated in the shotgun seat, going through some drawers. "Not a bad getaway huh? Now what?" he asked.

"We have to keep the octolite safe as long as possible. So I suggest we-" Ian was interrupted by a squeal Lhikan made.

Everyone looked at him with WTF looks. Lhikan was peering inside a drawer. He grabbed something and showed his prize to his friends: a commander's cap. It was dirty, black and ruined, but Lhikan was very pleased with it. He deactivated his power suit, and placed the cap on his head. "Commander Adam is taking orders." He said in a stupid voice. "Commander Adam is going to make you three his personal slaves."

Samus rolled her eyes. "All right Lhik-"

"Commander Adam demands that you call him Commander Adam or he will throw you overboard." Lhikan answered, still in his stupid voice.

Anthony instantly caught on. "Payback on the commander." He guessed.

There was a loud roar, and the ship shook. A black creature flew over the ship. "Commander Adam and Anthony will take flying thing down. The hatch will be open. "he got up, and leaned against the wall, trying to get the security code right. The angle at which Anthony as looking at him at, made it look like he was pressing buttons on his arm. "The hatch is open." He ran down the alley, followed by Anthony, who was shouting;

"HOLY COW! COMMANDER ADAM'S BATMAN!"

Ian instantly spun around to look behind him. "Seriously? Dude that's awesome!"

Samus rolled her eyes again, but she decided to play the game. "And we all know how much you love batman Ian."

"I gotta see this. Samus, fly the ship." He instantly climbed out of his seat, and ran after the two other boys yelling, "MAN I LOVE MY BROTHER SO MUCH MORE NOW!"

Samus laughed. She couldn't help it.

* * *

The three men were on top of the ship, looking at the ominous hallway that was shooting past at high speed.

A screech was heard. A huge, dragon-like creature appeared, following the ship at high speed.

Lhikan grinned and yelled in delight. "IT'S THE BALD PIGEON!"

Ian looked at Lhikan. "Ridley? Bald pigeon?"

"Pay no attention." Anthony said.

The three of them opened fire on the monster.

* * *

No one dared to go near the Commander, much less look at him. His was stiffer, colder and less emotionless than ever. He turned and entered the final cylinder.

"I'm joining them." He whispered dangerously.

"AND THE MIGHTY RIDLEY GOES DOWWWWWWNN!" Lhikan announced as Ridley was a ball of fire disappearing in the distance. "Come on, let's see how Samus is doing."

Samus was still flying the ship, trying to ignore the trio's insanity. "The ship has suffered from the battle. We'll have to land her."

"Commander Adam orders you to fly till the end of the tunnel and ram into the wall." Lhikan said.

"I'd say we land now."

Everyone turned to face a person in Galactic Federation Marine armor. Lhikan pointed at him. "Commander Adam does not take orders from mere soldiers!" he snapped playfully.

"Indeed." The man deactivated his helmet.

Lhikan paled and began stuttering.

Anthony's eyes went wide, and his gaze fell to his feet.

Ian gulped. "Have mercy."

Adam walked towards Lhikan, and glared down at him. He stretched out his hand. Lhikan put the commander's hat in it. "Thank you. I believe that you should start thinking twice before making jokes." He said dryly. He looked at Samus. "Samus, try to knock some maturity in this guy. Ian, just because I have to deal with Lhikan doesn't mean you're off the hook."

Ian groaned.

Adam turned, and left the virtual training.

"Party pooper." Lhikan pouted.

**So...yeah. Humor. I couldn't help it. There should one or two chapters till the end.**

**If you're asking why Adam purposely made things awkward in the cafeteria, I say that he doesn't want Ian to be with Samus. I see him trying to make things so awkward in between them that Samus and Ian wouldn't dare too look at each other again. Parents. Meh.**

**REVIEW!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay, first things first. I apologize for extremely long wait. I was hoping to be able to finish it last week, but school has devoured so much time...T****he reason: at the end of the year, we pass this exam called 'Le Bac'. It's pretty the exam which is going to allow us to get into universities and all. So If I fail this...yeah, my life will be pretty screwed. So I can't afford missing a beat.**

**Anyway, back to the subject of Metroid. IANMUS! I wrote a little scene just for that. And the final attack on the Kriken Empire has started. What will happen? Who will prevail? DUH DUH DUNNN! Finally: Lhikan will be battling the Emperor, and some REALLY unexpected ally is going to save Commander Adam's life.**

** One last thing. It has nothing to do with Metroid, but still. I'm planning to write a story inspired by 'League of Legends'. Other than Ezreal and Ahri, who would you like to be present in the 'main character' group. And, if you want it, what kind of shipping would you guys like to have?**

**Welp, that's about it. Enjoy the chapter.**

Adam flipped through a couple of papers. "No…no we can't do this sir. It's too risky."

Keaton sat in a chair, watching the commander carefully. "I know. But we really haven't got too much of a choice here."

Adam looked at the wall behind the chairman, lost in thought. "I agree with you. That's why we're sending the entire fleet. But I'm still worried. As much as the legion is experienced, I don't want to see them injured or dead." He took a deep breath and thought again. "All right. We'll go with your plan. But I need the fleet to keep the Krikens diverted for as long as possible. If the diversion isn't possible, we fall back to plan B, which is to destroy the capital from the inside, then from the outside."

Keaton nodded. "All right then." He pulled out a large scroll. "There is just one last thing I want you to see."

Adam raised an eyebrow, but he quickly caught on. '_I don't think I'm going to like this._' He thought as Keaton unrolled the large paper, and began presenting it to him.

* * *

"So, what did the commander do to you?" Anthony asked Lhikan.

Three days had passed since the training incident, and the Platoon 7 had finally gotten bck into the _Stained Moon_, and was heading straight towards the capital of the Kriken Empire.

Samus, he and Lhikan were seated in a circular table, eating lunch.

"Oh nothing. Just had me do excessive training and twenty-four hours of kitchen duty for the next three weeks. Though that punishment will really start at the end of the war." Lhikan answered.

Anthony grinned. "At least you're still standing."

Lhikan looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, let's see. There was a time when Adam punished a guy who did the same thing as you did. Let's say that the poor guy had to-"

"Anthony, don't start freaking him out." Samus called. "Lhikan, just know that from now on, don't do what you did again."

The younger member nodded, not answering the comment. "So…what do we do now? As far as I know, Commander Adam hasn't given us a briefing on the mission."

Samus shrugged. "He'll give one sooner or later."

Lhikan nodded. He stared down at his meal, before grinning evilly. "Hey Samus?"

"Yeah?" the blond soldier replied, beginning to wonder what Lhikan had in store for her.

"Remember the other day at the cafeteria? The time when Commander Adam made fun of you and Ian?"

Samus instantly knew what Lhikan was going to ask. She tried to keep the growing heat in her stomach under control. "Um…yes?"

"What he mean when he heard…well, noises coming from his quarters?"

Despite her efforts, Samus felt her face flare. Why did he have to do that? She looked at Anthony for help.

"He has a point. I'd like to know too." Anthony added playfully.

Samus banged her head on the table. "Remind me why we're friends again?"

* * *

Adam watched the entire legion of Platoon 7 stand in front of him in a single and neat row.

"All right. As you all know, we are heading to the Capital of the Kriken Empire. We should be there by tomorrow morning. The Galactic Federation Fleet is waiting next to the planet called _Daiimoni_, which is just at the borders of the Empire. They cannot enter the Empire at risk of falling into a trap the Krikens have laid. They will only be able to attack once the Empire runs into a state of both chaos or if the trap has been disengaged."  
"Our job," the commander continued, "Is to infiltrate the capital, and destroy it from the inside. Once that's done, we'll be able to take control of the force field that is surrounding the capital. Once the shield will be down, the Empire's fleet will have to regroup around the city in order to protect it better. This is when the fleet of the Galactic Federation will attack."  
"The Krikens will fight back, but they will not be able to protect the capital correctly. Therefore, we'll be able to destroy them from the inside, hopefully without too much trouble."

"For your groups, weapons and gear. Anthony, your plasma gun is authorized. Use it only against the most powerful monsters and Krikens we'll face. You'll be paired with Samus. Head towards the jails and throne. The prisoners will help you in the fight, and I want the Emperor dead as soon as possible."

"Yes sir." Anthony saluted.

"Lyle, you're allowed to use your bombs and plasma grenades. No Power Bombs though. There will be no risks on this mission. You'll go with Maurice."

"Gotcha."

"Maurice, redirect all the discussions the Krikens are having with one another to the Galactic Federation. I want the entire Empire to be aware that is going to be an attack."

"Count on me Commander."

"James, your job will be to hunt down the leaders other than the Emperor. You'll stick with me."

"All right."

"Lhikan, I want you to scout up the Capital. You will be alone. Your Imperialist is authorized. So is the gear on your Power Suit. However." Adam glared at him. "You are forbidden to use that glowing ability your suit has. It causes interference, and will give away your exact location. Also, there will be no comedy in this mission. Am I clear?"

"Crystal Clear Commander!" Lhikan saluted.

"Good. Samus, your Plasma Whip is authorized as well as your Super Missiles. However, you will not be allowed to use the Ice Beam. Krikens show a low resistance to the cold. One of our spies have reported that there are mechanisms capable of catching even the slightest change of temperature. Your weapon will be identified and your location will be known. I want you to protect Anthony when there are monsters he won't be able to handle."

Samus nodded.

Adam thought silently, trying to remember what he had forgotten. "Right. Lhikan, I want you reach the scientific headquarters. They might know a few things about us. Destroy all everything there."

Samus looked at the member. He seemed to like the word 'destroy'.

He looked at Samus. "Any objections lady?"

Samus grinned and made a 'thumbs down' sign.

"I have a question sir…" Lhikan asked, unsure.

Adam raised an eyebrow, but stayed silent.

"Is Ian going to be part of this mission?"

"Lhikan, do you see Ian here?"

"Um…no?"

"So what do you deduce?"

"That he isn't coming?"

"Congratulations. You've proven yourself capable of using your brain once today."

Lhikan turned scarlet at the comment. "I meant, what will he be doing."

"He'll be on the War Cruiser _Yavin's Pride_. He'll be a member of the mechanic team ordered to keep the ships together. So far, he'll be staying with us. He'll be doing the last few repairs along with Lyle."

Samus suddenly had a flashback of the explosion of the reactor. Ian was still in there, trapped, and forced to be left behind. She felt her stomach turned inside out, but made no reply.

"Anyone else?" Adam asked.

There was no questions.

"Then let's get to it."

* * *

"So you'll be attacking tomorrow morning huh?" Ian said.

He was fixing Lhikan's Zephyr, twirling a screwdriver in his fingers. Behind him was Samus, who was leaning against the wall.

Samus simply nodded.

"Feel ready for it?"

"I hope so."

Ian stopped twirling his screwdriver and looked at her, concern written in his features. "Are you all right? You don't look good."

She nodded. "I'm fine. Just a little worried."

"About what?"

Samus resisted the urge to hit him. "About you you idiot!" she blurted out. "You're barely back and you've got to go back to that stupid reactor that nearly got you killed last time! How can I not be worried!"

Ian stayed silent. He lowered his screwdriver.

"Why is your brother even sending you there? He was so worried when you nearly died! Now, barely a week later, he's sending you straight back into the stupid reactor!"

"Samus…you know Adam. He would never have let me return there again if he wanted to. The reason why he's making me go there is because of my building abilities. If something goes wrong, he knows that I'll be able to keep the ship going. That's why."

Samus felt so annoyed and angry. She wanted to hit the wall. "But Ian…"  
The man turned and winked at her. "Besides, he's just jealous that I've managed to get myself a beautiful woman as a girlfriend."

Samus blushed at the comment. "Whatever…" she mumbled. She felt Ian wrap his arms around her.

"Stop glaring, you look like you're pouting." Ian teased.

Samus rolled her eyes, and hugged him back. "Mmm."

Ian thought for a moment, and spoke. "So Samus?"

"Yeah?"

"Before going to that reactor that seems determined to kill me, don't I get a kiss for luck? You know it's the sort of tradition…?"  
Samus looked at him, her eyebrows raised. Ian was sure she was going to laugh or something, when she brought her lips crashing on his.

He was stunned for a second, but recovered and began to kiss her back. They stayed like this for a while, when a loud cough interrupted them.

Both of them broke the kiss and saw Lyle standing in front of them, his face bright red, clearly wishing he was somewhere else. "Um…Ian? The Commander wants to see you. Something about a report…"

"Why doesn't he get his lazy butt here?"

Lyle turned darker. "He'll…uh…strangle you for what you're doing?"

"Good point. Tell him I'll be there in a sec."

Lyle nodded, before turning and walking briskly away.

Samus looked at Ian, who was making a face. "Don't do anything stupid with Adam okay? He's still at Lhikan who made fun of him without meaning it."

"I know. I'll think of a way to get revenge." Ian gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Gotta go. If I take too long Adam will be suspicious. And guess what will happen if he gets too suspicious? I'm totally screwed."

"We." Samus corrected.

"He'll let you off the hook since you're his 'fav'. A real brother would be happy for me, but noooooo, Adam just has to find the worst ways to keep us apart. Damn him."

Samus smiled. "It's great to have a loving brother."

* * *

Admiral Dane stood on the command bridge of the _Athena's Stand_, the largest war cruiser of the fleet.

He watched, through the huge window, the infinite amount of cruisers and ships that sailed smoothly through the air. There was everything: war cruisers, Ketynian Bombers, small scout ships, Ragenesisian star fighters, etcetera.

'_This is it…_' he thought. He had seen, and been the leader in many wars and battles, but this was something else. Only to match the power of the Kriken Empire, they had to bring out all their ships, and merge them into one, huge armada. And it might just not be enough.

Operation Diamond…it had been used only once. The idea of having to use it again bothered him more than he cared to admit.

The idea was to surprise the enemy, and try to separate the squadrons from the cruisers. Then, they would pound the enemy's central base, while the cruisers would keep the enemy flagships away.

If it worked, the damage would be huge. If not…well there wouldn't be anyone around to talk about it.

He turned to see the digital clock on the wall. 3: 23 AM. Still two hours to go until they could attack. Until then, wait.

* * *

The _Stained Moon _glided gently towards a huge, blood-red planet. The entire surface was just one big city, but it looked as though the entire place was covered with lava.

James shifted uneasily in his pilot's seat. "So this is the capital of the Kriken Empire…" he said

"Looks like. Kinda welcoming, don't you think?" Anthony commented.

Samus looked at Commander Adam. He was standing in front of the door of the cockpit, his hands behind his back and his stone-cold poker face on. He was wearing his dark blue Galactic Federation Marine power suit. "We have to get in." he said, but he spoke like he had already thought of a solution.

He seemed ready to say it, but Lhikan beat him. "Do you think they'll let us in if we ask politely?"

Adam glared at Lhikan. "The capital is aware of the attack. Most of the forces will be near the borders, trying to find the fleet. We'll enter through the docking bay. Near it is a control system. We'll be able to get a map of the capital for all of you."

"What if there are guards in the docking bay?" Samus asked.

Adam stayed quiet for a moment. "Has Maurice set the prime bomb?"

The man nodded. "He attached it to the reactors, and made sure that the explosion magnified only in the very back of the ship. That way, we won't get hurt, and the guards will either enter, and we'll subdue them, or they'll go around investigating the back, leaving the bay clear."

"Good." Adam said. "Get ready, we're boarding."

* * *

Three Kriken guards watched the small flagship float gently and park in the docking bay.

The doors opened, and a rail slipped out, hitting the metal ground with a loud _clang_.

The krakens waited patiently for their leader's appearance.

Suddenly, the back of the ship exploded, sending pieces of melted metal across the room. Debris hit the walls, and the guards jumped out of the way to avoid getting pierced. One of the shards hit the control booth, with began to spark irregularly, and which exploded in a shower of smoke and fire.

The door that separated the docking back to space slammed shut.

The guards looked around, and nodded to each other. They ran up the rail, and into the ship.

There was a loud crash, followed by silence.

An orange metal humanoid-shaped figure carefully checked the docking bay. "You were right Adam. Apart from these three, there's no one around."

A group of seven armored people descended the rail, their weapons raised.

"The door's been locked…" Lhikan commented. "How will we get out?"

"We'll find a way later." Adam said. "In the meantime, don't forget your jobs, and get to the control room. There should be a copy of maps that we should be able to download in the Power Suits. Go."

The seven of them ran towards the control room at the far end of the room.

* * *

The control room turned out being a small, rectangular room filled with screens and buttons. Samus scanned an open file on a computer, but finding nothing interesting, she left it alone. "Now what?"

Maurice had sat down on a chair, and began tapping away on a computer. "I'll get these maps downloaded. Just given me a sec."

Anthony looked around. He walked towards a computer which showed images given by several cameras hidden around the capital.

"Impressive huh? The Krikens are much better organized and developed than we give them credit for."

Anthony turned to see Samus walking up to him. She stood next to him. "Anything special?"

Anthony shook his head. "These are just the cameras on this side of the planet. There might be more interesting things in the other control rooms."

"Mmm."

Anthony grinned. "Well I guess it's like the old times then. You and me, beating the crap outta the bad guys." He said playfully, swinging an arm around her shoulders.

Samus rolled her eyes. "Oh puh-lease. _I_ did all the work. You just sat in the background and watched."

Anthony mocked being hurt. "But what about the explosion caused back on Rieath? I did that. You know, mission Kyltia? Something about saving people…"

"Okay…you did bust up all the monsters there, but don't forget that Admiral Dane was a little pissed. Emphasis on 'little'. You blew up the entire city by accident."

Anthony gave her a sloppy boyish grin. "I didn't know the damage a fully charged Power Bomb could do." He tilted his head backwards. "Ah, those were the good times."

"DONE!" Maurice cried, snapping them out of their memory rail. He brought out a file, made a couple of copies, and gave one to everyone. "All right, see that little red dot? That's your current location. You can attach them onto your helmets and activate them whenever you feel like it."

"Good job. All right, don't forget your missions. Get to it. James, this way." Adam said, walking out of a door. The man ran after him.

Lhikan looked at his map. "So the research center is in sector 37, which is in the eastern side of the capital. So it should be…this way." He deduced, walking towards another metallic door. "See ya guys later. And Samus? Bust the Emperor for me."

Samus rolled her "You do it." She said. "Come on Anthony." She grabbed his wrist, and pulled him towards the opposite door. "Let's bust some heads"

* * *

Admiral Dane waited patiently, watching the crystal-blue planet the fleet was in orbit. A small red light flashed from it. He took a deep breath.

"Take to the fleet to the coordinates four-eight-three-oh-one." He told the communicator. "The attack has begun."

One by one, every single ship shot into hyperspace, leaving a cold, quiet void behind them.

* * *

When the Galactic Federation reappeared into realspace, they were instantly met with a whole army of kriken cruisers and other war ships.

Admiral Dane paled at the sight of it, but he remained incredibly calm. "Have the fleet spread out. Make sure that all ships are accompanied by one or two cruisers. Have the command ships stay within this sector, and have our starboard canons face the army." He ordered.

Suddenly, the Kriken Army blasted all their weapons at the Galactic Federation ships. The black space was filled with red and blue bolts.

Dane, forgetting about the shields, braced himself for the impacts that were to come. He raised his arm.

"Open Fire."

* * *

The door of the experiment room exploded, creating a huge cloud of smoke.

The krikens stood up to face the attacker, but they died before they even registered what happened.

Lhikan, firing his canon non-stop, and slashing wildly with his blades, destroyed everthing in his sight. Only when he was sure that the room was empty of all survivors, did he stop to catch his breath. "Okay. Part one of the plan is done. Now, time to-"

He stopped when he saw a screen showing several ships battling each other. Out of curiosity, he looked at it. He felt his heart make a leap.

It was the battle between the Kriken Empire and the Galactic Federation.  
Lhikan watched carefully for several long seconds. He hoped that the Federation would be able to break the powerful army, but he soon realized that it didn't stand a chance.

The Krikens were far superior in number, and the Galactic Federation could barely keep up with the advanced weapons that were used against them.

One of the Galactic War Cruisers, locked in a serious battle with a flagship, exploded in a flash brighter than a supernova.

Lhikan felt a surge of pain. HE realized why Adam was so desperate on this mission being a success. Everything was up to Platoon 7. If they failed, then the Galactic Federation might never be able to live for very long.

He turned, and ran as fast as he could out of the room, desperate to do his part.

* * *

"Hey Anthony, are you sure this is the right place?" Samus asked, doubt evident in her voice.

They had entered a large and dark room. It was supposed to be the throne room, but for some reason, it was empty, gloomy, and looked as though it hadn't been used for a while.

"I'm pretty sure this is it." Anthony replied. "I guess the Emperor has moved. I wonder where…"

Samus looked out of a window, into the deep space. She swore. "Anthony! The Fleet! It's being attacked!"

Anthony instantly spun around, and ran towards her. Indeed, the Galactic Federation fleet was battling the Kriken Empire's army. "We gotta hurry. Or else there might not be a Federation to save…"

* * *

A door slipped open. Lhikan, very carefully, entered the room. It was pitch-black, and large.

His canon raised, expecting to see something jump out at him, he took one step after another.

"Well well. What do we have here?" boomed a voice.

Lhikan spun around, his gun raised, looking for the source of the voice. "Who's there?"  
The door slammed shut behind him. All the lights turned on, blinding him for a few seconds.

Lhikan gasped.

In front of him stood a huge Kriken. Twice Lhikan's size, it had four, boney red arms. Two were attached to his shoulders, the other two on his hips. Two of the arms were morphed into dangerously sharp blades. The other two had canons. "It seems we have an uninvited guests. I never meet people who don't have an appointment, but I think I'll do an exception for you." He said. His voice was gentle, but it still made Lhikan feel a shiver run down his spine.

"The Emperor…" he whispered. He raised his gun. "How did you…"

The Kriken spun his weapons in the air. "Now then, shall we commence?"

Lhikan answered by charging a missile. "You're on!"

He charged.

* * *

Anthony ran till he reached a long, smooth metal door. He tried to open it, but to no avail.

"I got this." Samus said. She pointed her arm canon at it, and fired.

The door exploded in a glorious ball of fire and melted metal.

The blond soldier walked right it, her weapon half raised. It was-or seemed like-a control center. It was empty, and the dark room was dimly lit by numerous computers and other mechanisms.

On one side was a large window, which gave view to a huge, metal room. While Anthony was busy checking out the computers, Samus decided to see what was out of the window.

She gave a panicked gasp. "Anthony!"

The man looked up from the computer. "Yeah?" He noticed her panicked face behind the visor, causing him to frown in concern. "What's the matter?"

"I…It's Lhikan...He's battling the Emperor…"

"What?" The man raced to the window.

Indeed, Lhikan-recognizable thanks to his dark green power suit, Zephyr- was jumping around; shooting small streaks of fire that looked like missiles. In front of him, moving equally as quickly, was a large, hexapede Kriken. It was firing constantly, filling the battle with red lasers. Two of its arms were swinging in the air, crushing the areas where Lhikan had been standing.

"Shit." Anthony hissed. "He's only going to get himself killed. We gotta get down there and fast!"

Samus did not waste a moment. Spinning wildly around, she raced away, followed by Anthony.

* * *

Lhikan leaped out of the way, narrowly dodging a huge blade. He countered by firing a serie of Power Beams, aimed for the Kriken's chest.

But the alien moved with unbelievable agility. All four shots missed, and he was already preparing for his next strike.

"I've wasted enough time with this nonsense." The Kriken hissed. He feinted a swipe with one of his bladed arms. Lhikan jumped sideways in effort to avoid it, but just when he lost contact with the ground, the Emperor shot out his other blade, which struck Lhikan's wrist, sending his canon flying.

It clattered on the ground, smoking.

Lhikan made a desperate grab for it, but the Emperor fired two Imperialist beams form its other two arms, causing the weapon to explode.

"So it ends." He said, and he brought one sharp bladed arm crashing on Lhikan.

_CLANG_!

"What?"

Lhikan grinned from behind his unsheathed blades. "I like swords too you know. These claws are actually hidden swords. Let me show you my real strength."

The Kriken hissed angrily. "I can't allow that I'm afraid."

He slashed sideways, planning a pincer attack, but Lhikan activated his jet pack, which awakened with a powerful roar. Lhikan rose high in the air, making the attack miss entirely.  
Without wasting a minute, he dove downward, his blades pointed at the Kriken.

"TAKE THAT!"

He slashed wildly at the Kriken, who barely blocked in time. The weapons slammed into each other with a power of sparks.

Without wasting another second, he took flight again, and plunged down again.

The Kriken hissed. "Don't get too excited. If this is your plan, then I'll just crush all your weapons at once." He waited for the right moment, and grabbed Lhikan by the wrist, and brought him crashing onto the ground.

The impact was so violent, and was done in a certain position, causing one of Lhikan's trio blades to shatter instantly. "Waaah!"

"One claw gone."

Lhikan didn't have time to recover from the sudden attack, that the Kriken fired two imperialist beams, pulverizing the second blade.

"Two claws."

"Zephyr! Let's get out of here! Quickly!" Lhikan yelled. He fired his jet pack, and shot away, hoping to escape the battle, but the Emperor raced after him with unbelievable speed.

"Hey there little buddy. If you don't hurry and run away, that last claw will be gone too."

"STOP IT!"

The Kriken caught up with him, and made a wild slash, splintering the last blade in half. "Three claws. Now it's over." He began to make wild slashes, pushing Lhikan back towards a wall. "Prepare for your doom!"

Lhikan gritted his teeth. "Forget it. I won't lose this. ZEPHYR!" Lhikan's suit glowed brightly, before teleporting behind the Kriken. He instantly slashed madly with his broken blades, creating a serious dent in the Kriken's armor.

"What's this?" the Kriken said. "A teleport? Interesting…"

Lhikan took a couple of steps backwards. This wasn't over. It was still winnable. It will be difficult, but a chance for him winning was still there.

He carefully watched the Emperor, trying to find a weakness. The Emperor, as for him, waited patiently for his enemy to attack, knowing very well that he had an enormous advantage in the fight.

Lhikan charged. If he could just blind the Kriken, then he might be able to at least perform an escape.

He step-sided, feinted, and slashed again, his broken blade heading straight for the Kriken's eye.

"Gotch-"

"LHIKAN!"

The boy's attention was instantly diverted to an orange armored human who had entered the room, and who was running towards him as fast as possible, followed by a man in Galactic Federation Marine Suit.

The Emperor, noticing the distraction, took advantage of Lhikan's diverted attention, and shot a bladed arm at him.

Both Samus and Anthony skidded to a halt. Samus's breath became broken gasps. Anthony's eyes went wide with shock.

Lhikan never saw what hit him. He didn't even realize what him. He probably never would.

The Kriken's bladed arm had gone right through his heart.

* * *

Adam twisted left and right, trying desperately to avoid getting hit by the numerous Imperialists that were being shot at him.

James had died, after getting hit by a triskelon attack from behind.

His freeze gun had been blasted out of his hand, and had skidded to who-knows-where. And to make matters worse, Adam began to realize that his remaining weapon was running out of ammo.  
He fired a quick pair of bullets, both of them hitting their marks, causing them to collapse like broken wooden dolls, but more came to take their places.

Three imperialists were fired, and Adam jumped backwards, tripping over himself, and hitting the floor hard. He tried to stand, but realized that he was done for.

All the krikens, over twenty of them, were slowing marching towards him, their guns raised.

Adam braced himself for the beams to rip through his armor, and tear his life out of his body.

There was the excited hissing of some krakens, followed by a huge crash.

Adam risked opening an eye, and gasped.

A blue bolt was racing across the room, destroying the krikens one after the other. His electric-like attacks instantly directed to one, killing him in mere seconds. Four krikens fired at once, at point blank.

They all missed.

The bolt was unbelievably agile and quick. It quickly switched to an alternative form and shot around them, placing bombs that were connected by sparks. When the third bomb had been placed, the bombs formed a triangle which shrunk at high speed, ripping the krikens to shreds.

When all three bombs collided, there was a huge explosion, incinerating all the remaining krikens.

Adam's savior switched back into his normal form. He rested his arm canon on his shoulder. "Not bad for someone out of practice." He commented to himself. He turned to face Adam, who had been lying on the ground, in both shock and disbelief, and Adam knew he was giving him a look of disgust behind the helmet. "Nap time's over. You got a mission to do." He snapped. "And don't think I've forgotten about our little history. I'm just here to help my student out."

And with that, he turned on his heel, and walked briskly right out.

Adam, for the second time in barely two weeks, felt an overload of emotions swirl inside him. He knew who that man was, and Adam was, despite the fact that they were arch-enemies, proud and glad to be fighting by his side once again.

He got up, and ran swiftly to catch up with his savior.

Sylux.

**That's all for now. Sorry again for the delay. I'll try to be a little quicker (though I don't think I'll be able to publish anytime soon).**

**In the meantime, REVIEW!**


	11. Chapter 11

**OMG I AM SO SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG! I'm trying to go AFAP (as fast as possible), but school is SWALLOWING all my free time. This is just no fair. All these really important tests are relying on the good work, and I don't want to mess up.**

**Anyway, this is the second part of the battle. Some really unexpected events are unfolding, and I think it's one of the best chapters I've written in the whole fanfic.**

**I'll try to go faster next time, like I keep promising. The vacation is in two weeks, at that time, I'll be free for ten to twelve days, so I'll be able to surge in ending this fanfic, which should be within two chapters or so.**

**Has anyone noticed that I keep forgetting to do the disclaimer? Well here it is: I don't own Metroid.**

The Emperor brought his bladed arm crashing into Lhikan's back, the tip aimed right for the heart.

"Lhikan!" Samus yelled, as she hurled herself forward, tackling the boy out of the way. However, the Kriken managed to slam his arm into Lhikan's back. There was a bone-crushing sound, and Lhikan screamed.

The two of them crashed on the ground, and skidded, before slamming against the wall.

Samus spun around and glared at the Emperor.

"I believe that this will not be a fair fight. I shall flee for now." With that, the kriken disappeared in a small flash.

Anthony ran towards Samus and Lhikan. "Lhikan! Are you okay?"

"My…back…really…hurts…"

Samus gritted her teeth. "Hold on. Just let me take off your armor…"

With the sniper's help, she managed to remove the dark green armor that protected the chest and the back. Samus looked at Lhikan's back and gasped.

"Your…your back…" she whispered.

Lhikan's power suit had absorbed the worst of the impact, but the momentum still was powerful enough to slam into his back, and damage his bones. His left shoulder plate had been pulverized. It created a disgustingly distorted area in the back, and Samus guessed that some of the ribs under it had shattered as well.

Samus gently rubbed it with her hand, causing Lhikan to scream in pain. "I don't think you'll be able to fight anymore." She said slowly while reattaching his armor. "I'll call Adam. Get into hiding and don't leave your position. You really can't do anymore in this state."

Lhikan shook his head. He slowly climbed to his feet. "I can still fight with my right arm…"

"No. Samus is right. You rib cage is damaged, and if you keep pushing yourself the wound will only get worse. Stay hidden. It's the best decision."

Lhikan looked down. "All right. Whatever you-ow-say." He walked slowly away, clutching his shoulder.

Samus watched him leave the room, before turning to Anthony. "Come on Anthony. We've got a big kriken to fry."

* * *

The door exploded, and Sylux leaped through, draining krikens of their energy, one after the other.

"COME ON!" he yelled, ripping a kriken to shreds by slashing at him wildly with his gun. Without wasting a second to admire his handy-work, he instantly spun around, firing his _Shock Coil_. It wrapped around one kriken, and Sylux, using his weapon like a wipe, flung him high in the air and slammed him down on another kriken. Both of them went down, their skeletons completely pulverized by the impact.

The remaining krikens instantly opened fire, but Sylux leaped out of the way. Just when he was about to get overwhelmed by the krikens, a man jumped past him, his gun blazing away at the enemies.

Adam rolled out of the way of the incoming fire. Not a single bullet was wasted, as the gun punched holes in the bodies of the krikens, forcing them back one after the other.

The krikens, completely overwhelmed by the agility and strength of the two warriors, retreated to a metal door, which was exactly what both the Commander and bounty hunter were hoping for.

"NOW!" Adam yelled.

Sylux instantly went into his Lockjaw form, and released his final bomb. The triangular attack of the tri-ecasy shrunk at high speed. Just when all three bombs were about to collide, Adam threw a plasma grenade.

The explosion created caused a huge crater to appear in the wall as well as in the ground. The krikens were absorbed in the fire-ball, and ceased to exist entirely.

Sylux returned to his normal form. "Well it's over for this bunch. Come on, the control center is close."

Adam's face remained emotionless as ever. He simply nodded at Sylux's statement. "I sent Lhikan to scout up ahead. Normally he should be waiting in the surroundings of sector 53 by now."

Sylux gave him a glare. "Normally? That's not reassuring."

Adam knocked back the glare to him by staring at him dully. "You seem very concerned about this boy. Care to explain?"

Sylux turned. "That's none of your business." He was surprised by the fact that Adam had dropped the subject, and secretly relieved. Though, he knew deep down that Adam knew the answer to his question perfectly. "Let's blast this capital to pieces."

* * *

In space, the Galactic Federation armada blasted madly against the Kriken Empire's fleet. Both heroic and tragic actions marked the day.

A Federation Cruiser, with its back alive with flames, limped into a direct contact with the Kriken Empire's main communication flagship. The cruiser slammed into it, causing an explosion to tear through the flagship's shields. Pieces of molten metal flew in all directions, a dazzling series of explosions took place all over the starboard part of the flagship's hull, and sparks danced uncontrollably around the ship. But despite the appearances, the Kriken ship was only slightly wounded.

Smaller ships shot around the damaged part of the flagship, trying to pound it while the flagship was still licking its wounds.

Admiral Dane growled as his barrage of guns slammed uselessly against the flagship's shields. He grabbed a mike.

"Green Leader and Blue Leader. Take the engines. That's where the ship is the most injured. Yellow squad, slam the starboard guns and try to knock out those shields." He ordered.

Instantly, a number of smaller ships flew towards the flagship's engines, and began firing a barrage of bolts at them. A smaller number of ships flew around the flagship's hull, and blasted against the damaged side of the ship.

"All units, your Power Missiles are authorized. Open fire at my mark." The ships put distance in between the flagship at them. "Open Fire."

The explosion was huge. The damage was unbelievable. The size of the ring of magnified destruction was uncontrollable. The shields collapsed. The engines erupted to pieces, and the whole section began to go.

Blue and Green leaders escaped. The yellow squad shot to safety.

Admiral Dane gritted his teeth. "Make all forward guns aim to the flagship. Open Fire."

The blasts tore through the hull, blasting holes and explosions all over the ship. The Flagship erupted into a new series of flames. The huge explosion snagged two cruisers, one ordnance vessel and seven fighters.

Then, after wrecking chaos around the battlefield, the whole agglomeration smashed onto the capital, with kaleidoscopic effects.

* * *

The collision produced by the explosion tore through the planet's structure, making the conditions worse.

Samus was blown off her feet and crashed right into Anthony as the planet shook to the core. The two of them rolled till they smashed against the wall, both dazed and stunned.

Samus, being younger and lighter, was the first to recover. "Ow…what was that?" She sat up. "Damn, just when I was planning to warn Adam about Lhikan, the transmission gets interference…"

"I don't know about the transmission, but I do know that there's an interference on my back that's keeping me from standing."

Samus quickly realized that she was sitting on Anthony's back, and got up. "Sorry." She said. She tried to call the commander again. She got a link, but it was badly damaged.

"Samus…what…on?" there was a lot of static that made the comprehension difficult.

"Adam? Lhikan is injured. I sent him to go hiding somewhere. Adam? Do you read me?"

"Lhikan…happened…guide…tor 31."

Samus guessed he was telling him to reach sector 31. "Got it Adam. Sorry. Are you all right?"

"Fine…" the contact went out. Samus sighed. At least she knew what to do next. She called Lhikan. Thankfully, the reception was much better. "Lhikan, do you read me?"

"I'm fine. I'm on my-" a wince was heard. "I'm on my way back to the ship."

"Lhikan, can you reach sector 31? Adam told me to send you there."

"Sector 31…where's that?"

"Near the headquarters. On the eastern side of the capital."

"Right. Got it. Okay I'm on my-ow-way."

Samus ended the call. "All right Anthony. Let's try to catch up with the Emperor."

* * *

Lhikan limped in a large room. The room was lit and deadly silent. Lhikan shifted nervously. If he ran into a monster or kriken, he was done for. He'd never be able to fight in the conditions he was in. Better get to the sector before anyone beat him to it.

"I believe that we should finish what we started."

Lhikan stood very still. He slowly turned to face the huge kriken behind him. The Emperor whirled his blades. "Ready to pay the price of battling me?"

Lhikan tried to move quickly out of the way, but the Emperor lunged at him with unbelievable speed, and everything went black.

The Emperor walked into the control center. He watched the battle taking place in orbit.

"Perfect." He said. "Everything is going as planned." He noticed the missing flagship. "One of our most powerful ships are missing…not matter. It will only delay their defeat."

He looked at the krikens who were typing away on the computers, trying to keep in contact with their ships. "Have the fleet break up. Three sections must be in the positions of eight-three-thirteen-twenty."

The krikens immediately began to accomplish the order.  
On the screen, the green dots-the Kriken Fleet- broke into three parts, and began to reach their ordered position. The red dots-the Galactic Federation Fleet-seemed to hesitate on whether to follow. But soon, the cruisers took chase, following the retreating krikens.

The Emperor laughed darkly. "Tell the _Bloody Fang_ to arrive. We have them now." He hissed. "And have the _Razor Sun_ use her Ion Canons. This should give those weaklings a little surprise."

* * *

Anthony blasted the wall to pieces, and made a flip in the air and slammed on his feet. "BEHOLD ME! NINJA MAN!" he yelled, his plasma gun pointed into the dark room. Hearing no response, he slowly lowered his weapon. "Hello?"

Samus walked in after him, and punched him on the shoulder. "New rule Anthony: No more than three hours around Lhikan a week." She said. "That's the stupid storage room. There's no one here."

Anthony grinned sheepishly. "Consider it to be a practice session then."

Samus rolled her eyes. Making a mental note about keeping an eye on Anthony's breakfast, she walked towards the power outlet, and flipped the switch to the 'on' sign.

They were in an extremely large room. On the right were a couple of lockers which Samus guessed held weapons.

The hallway went on and on, and something that looked similar to a small pipe lay on the ground, far away.

Anthony went in deeper, while Samus looked in the lockers, wondering there might be anything useful.

She carefully opened one, and dodged a broom that nearly fell on her. Curious, she peered inside to find some cleaning materials and other miscellaneous.

She quickly opened the next locker, staying well out of the way in case something else fell on her. Nothing did. Samus looked inside, and grinned evilly. A bazooka. A big bazooka. A big, powerful, PLASMA bazooka. Grabbing it, she admired the metal. "Sweet." She said. "Now, I can rival Anthony's plasma gun." She shouldered the weapon, and fired. The bazooka exploded in a cloud of dust, and a plasma blast shot out, pulverizing the wall behind her.

Samus was so surprised that she gave a startled yelp, and leaped a foot in the air.

Anthony freaked out for a second, and spun around. "Hey Samus? No more than one hour a week around Lhikan." He said.

Feeling a bit dumb, Samus dropped the broken bazooka, and decided to stop messing with the findings. She looked back in the locker. Anything else? Nope.

She tried the next locker. This time, the entire contents spilled out. It turned out being a whole bunch of random stuff, from batteries and pencils to plasma whips and guns.

She began to go through the pile. A broken crowbar, a flashlight, bones, a piece of met-

"SAMUS!"

The blond soldier spun around at Anthony's shocked yell. He was kneeling by the thing that looked similar to a pipe, and was waving at her to come closer. "COME! QUICKLY!" shock and a twinge of panic were present in his voice.

Samus broke into a run, and bolted towards the Platoon 7 soldier. The closer she got to him, the more she felt her stomach churn, and the more she realized why Anthony was so afraid.

The closer she got, the clearer the appearances of what she thought was a pipe.

It was wearing broken green armor; some of the pieces had been torn off, and were lying on the ground, useless. There were some pieces of blue-tainted glass that were littered on the floor around.

Samus slowed till she was staring through the place where the glass once was.

She realized why Anthony was so panicked and shocked.

She was staring at Lhikan's dying body.

* * *

Admiral Dane almost panicked as one of the kriken ships began blasting some dark blue bolts of electricity at one of the cruisers.

The bolts slammed against the ship, and all the lights went out. The engines switched off. The guns went silent and the ship seemed dead.

Without wasting a second, the kriken ship used its laser canons to blast at the cruiser. The shields didn't seem to be up, as the bolt slammed into the ship, pulverizing the hull, and ripped the metal to shreds.  
Soon, the entire ship exploded, sending medium sized chucks of metal all over the battlefield.

Dane watched in horror at the black void where the _Infinite Assault_ once stood. The crew behind him was moving all over the place in panic, some people tried to contact the _Infinite Assault_, some gave orders, some simply, like Dane, stood in shock.

"Have you seen that?" someone on the mike yelled

"We've seen it Blue three. Prepare for retreat action." Yellow Leader said.

Dane grabbed the mike, and spoke into it. "All squadrons and cruisers listen up. Get as close as you can to the enemy cruisers. Add power to the front shields, and try to take out whatever that weapon was before it gets you."

"What! But that's crazy! We don't know anything about this kind of combat!" Kullus, captain of the _Sagittarius _shouted.

"We know as much as they know!" Dane argued back. "And they'll think we know more. Besides, even if we get hit by that weapon, we might as well take a few ships with us!"

"It's worth a try. Everyone, follow his order." Colonel Qannik, in charge of the _Gemini_. Dane felt grateful for Qannik's loyalty.

Soon, all the cruisers went closer towards the enemy ships and beganing firing at each other at point blank range.

Dane ordered the crew to bring his cruiser, _Athena's Stand_, towards another of the Kriken's Communication Flagships.

The battle had only stared.

* * *

"Lhikan…" Samus whispered. She gently took off the helmet, revealing the prodigy's face. A huge slash, probably caused by a shard of glass from his visor, covered his left cheek. His brown eyes, usually shining with his good nature, were filled with both fear and pain.

"Hang in there! We'll get you out of this!" Anthony said

Lhikan coughed. "N-no. Listen." Both soldiers looked at him. "The…Emp…eror can teleport. He…trapped me. I…managed to injure him a little…" He coughed again. Blood trickled out of his mouth. "L-listen. Z-zephyr. My power suit. Please k-keep it. I d-don't" he coughed hard, causing more blood to appear.

Samus hugged him. "Don't worry. We'll look after you suit." She said.

Lhikan smiled. "The…kids back at Aipotu…don't tell them. They'll…be *cough* ruined." Lhikan gave another cough. "The…Ric *cough* Ricard System…a trap…" he gave another cough

"Lhikan…" Samus whispered, tearing forming in her eyes.

"Hey kid, joke." Anthony said.

Samus looked at her friend. "_What?_"

"You're a joker. I want to see you go down smiling. Not crying or anything."

Lhikan gave him a weak grin. "Hey…just before we left for this battle..." he coughed. "I prepared a little trick for Ian…He…He'll never recover. Promise me he won't."

Samus smiled gently. "Promise."

Lhikan smiled. He suddenly gave a loud series of broken coughs. More blood trickled out. "There…is…another…" he sighed loudly, and he went still.

Anthony bowed his head. Samus felt hot tears slide down her cheeks. They stood next to the body for a moment, when Samus heard her comm. system flip on.

"Samus, it's me, Adam. I'm in sector 11. What's your status?"

It was the last thing she wanted to do. She would rather die than say it, die than accept the truth. But the mission relied on the truth, and only on that.

Slowly, she activated her own comm. system. "Adam…Lhikan…is dead."

* * *

Dane watched, wild eyed, as the cruisers blasted away at each other, their hulls nearly touching one another. Barrage of bolts slammed into the lower shields, creating explosions like tanks blasting away at each other at ten paces.

The _Razor Sun_ fired another row of ion canons, which slammed against another Federation cruiser. The ship went dark, and collided with a Kriken ship, creating a huge explosion which smashed onto the capital, increasing the damage dealt by the previous collision.

Dane carefully watched the kriken flagship that was gliding gently next to it. Both ships had their guns pointed at each other, and were waiting for the orders to be given.

"Aim for the bridge." He ordered softly. "Open Fire"

The _Athena's Stand_ fired millions of bolts that slammed against its target, chewing the hull to shreds. Chunks of metal were thrown in the air, creating chaos and confusion.

The flagship tried to fire back, but the pieces of the hull and the continuous attacks of the _Athena's Stand_ were making it almost impossible to counter-attack.

Dane quickly pressed a button on the right wall, and spoke into the mike. "Proton Torpedoes authorized." He said. "Open Fire"

Almost instantly, the entire ship spewed out purple balls of light at the enemy ship. The weapons slammed against the hull, creating miniaturized nuclear explosions.

The ship erupted in a column of flames, and began to blow, inclining dangerously starboard, heading towards the ruined planet, and capital of the Kriken Empire.

"Admiral! We've got a new ship entering the battlefield at the coordinates eight-three-seven-oh." Someone behind him yelled.

Dane pressed against the window and looked right, and saw a small, grayish corvette entering the battlefield. It was a smaller version of the communication flagship that had been destroyed earlier in the battle, but that didn't mean it was weaker.

The admiral growled. He grabbed the mike, but before he could say anything, the corvette opened its communication systems. "Well Admiral. Mind if we crash your party?"

Dane's mouth snapped shut. He'd recognize that voice anywhere. His mind went wild as he tried to get the facts together. He suddenly realized why Adam Malkovich was called a strategy genius.  
Dane couldn't keep himself from smiling. "Take the corvette to the coordinates two-twelve-one-seven. Our cruisers are having trouble eliminating a Kriken mothership."

"Got it. Count on us." Ian replied on the otherside of the mike.

* * *

The Emperor hissed. The Platoon 7 was dying. The Federation was losing cruisers one after the other. It was only a moment of time till the Armada collapsed entirely.

"Tell the _Bloody Fang_ to head towards and engage the main ship of the Federation" he ordered. Despite its small appearances, the corvette was incredibly powerful-rivaling the _Razor Sun_ in power and maneuvering.

The corvette in question ignored the order, and headed towards the _Razor Sun_.

"What is going on? Why isn't the _Bloody Fang _attacking?" the Emperor roared.

The krikens cowered in fear in their seats. "We…we're not sure your Exaltedness." One of them said. "We can't give the order. Something is-wait, communications are trying to reach us."

"Well let them in!"

Almost instantly, a hologram flickered to life. It was, not as the Emperor expected, a human. His features were easy to recognize, since he was the brother of the emblem of the Galactic Federation.

The Emperor took a deep breath in effort to contain his rage. "Ian Malkovich. Just what are you doing on my ship?"

The man smiled, and tilted his head as if misunderstanding what had been said. "Your ship? My my. It appears that you've mistaken my _Shooting Star_ with your _Bloody Fang_. Just allow me to say that we've…um…'borrowed' some of your firepower. Hope you don't mind." The hologram winked out.

The krikens looked nervously. "Orders?" one of the m dared to say.

The Emperor managed to contain himself. "Order the _Razor Sun_ to engage it. It's the only ship that can stand a chance against us. I need it destroyed."

"Yes your Grandness." One of them said.

* * *

The _Shooting Star_ glided towards the _Razor Sun_. Ian watched as the mothership grew bigger with the lack of distance. He raised his arm. "Prepare all forward guns." He said.

The _Razor Sun_ blasted away. The bolts slammed harmlessly against the shields, which began to glow and shrink.

"Open Fire." Ian said

* * *

The leader Kriken in the _Razor Sun_ watched as his barrage of bolts slammed against the shields. He pointed at the kriken sitting next to him. "Order the starboard ion canons to aim for the ship. Have the remaining guns keep the other ships at bay."

"Yes sir."

There was a flash of blue, as the ion canons roared to life, and fired at the ship.

The _Shooting Star_ took a huge hit from the volley of the attack, and was blown backwards. However, the damaged ship fired back with its own guns, which rammed into the shields of the mothership. Canion Bolts.

Alarms went on. The entire ship shook wildly. Everyone was was not seated was thrown of their feet.

Lyxia stood up. "Zerra, kill those sirens. What happened?"

The kriken whose name was Zerra, spoke. "We've lost forwards shields, auxiliary shields, transition shields, uraania shields and the engnin shields."

"You mean we've only got the Yeffer shields left?"

Another row of Canion Bolts were launched. The mothership lurched violently. "Not anymore." Zerra said glumly.

Lyxia hissed furiously. "Have all the guns aim on that ship. I want it dead."

* * *

Ian felt like cheering when all the shields of the mothership collapsed entirely. But that urge disappeared when the _Razor Sun_ spewed out a volley of fire.

The _Shooting Star_ got hit full force by the attack, and it spun uncontrollably. Explosions appeared all over the starboard section, and black smoke appeared in ship.

"Captain Weyna! What's our status?" Ian yelled.

"Our shields are falling. We've lost fifty percent maneuverability and thirty percent guns. Our radar system has been blown." Weyna answered almost instantly.

"So are we blind?"

"Not blind. But disadvantaged, yes. I can get the shields going, but we'll be weakened elsewhere."

"Do it." Ian ordered. He gritted his teeth. "Have all the remaining guns get ready. We're going in for one last run."

The _Razor Sun_ activated its engines, and raced towards the injured ship, planning on finishing it off.

Ian took a deep breath. "All guns open fire."

* * *

The _Shooting Star _gave a tremendous lurch forward, and rolled back into battle.

Lyxia noticed it instantly. "Guns! Let it have it!"

Almost instantly, the _Razor Sun_ spewed out a storm of fire and bolts. The bolts blasted at the ship, tearing the hull like paper. Explosions took place all over the bridge, and the bow stern was torn completely apart. The starboard section became a sea of explosions.

But before the _Shooting Star_ was left adrift in space, it vomited its own guns right back at the mothership. It mauled it mercilessly. The Canion Gun punched holes in the mothership's hull, the ion canons screamed into the systems, tearing the entire port section to shreds. The bolts danced around the armor, before erupting in a rainbow of explosions.

* * *

Samus stopped her running and looked through a window to see the _Shooting Star_ float slowly and uncontrollably away. It drifted away from its epic battle with the _Razor Sun_.

A cold fist closed over her heart.

"Ian..." she whispered.

**HOLY COW! LHIKAN DIED! Yeah I know this might be shocking, but he wasn't supposed to be around forever. I was planning on having him die since the start.**

**Sorry for all those who loved him. **

**REVIEW! I LOVE REVIEWS!**


	12. Chapter 12

**LAST CHAPTER PEOPLE! I hope you've enjoyed the story, cause I've really did. Writing this thing was so much fun. Don't think I'm gonna stop, I've got a Golden Sun story planned for the near futur. For Metroid, I'm not sure what to write next, but just note, I think I'm gonna stick with Ianmus. It really works! ^^ Thanks LolitaPrincess for introducing it to me! **

**For Lhikan, yeah, he's dead. Sorry for those who loved him.  
**

**The final battle is almost over. TIME TO SHOW WHO'S BOSS!**

**For this last chapter, I put a bit of Ianmus, and family moment between Samus and Adam. ENJOY!  
**

Adam carefully placed four metal pads on the wall. Once that was done, he took out a small remote and walked briskly next to Sylux, who was crouching safely behind the remains of the door that had been blown up earlier.

Silently, the Commander pressed the button.

The entire wall exploded, sending debris and half-melted metal in all directions.

Sylux snorted. "Why didn't you just have me blast a missile at that wall?"

"With the continuous impacts from space, the explosion caused by a timed-bomb will resemble most to the delayed explosions. A missile will far too much noise, before exploding. That could rise a couple of suspicions. A bomb would only make them think that there was a collision not so far from here, and it just reached the door." Adam explained patiently dully.

Sylux simply glared. "Let's go."

* * *

Samus and Anthony raced past the chambers and into the sectors. "Hurry Samus! The Control Center is this way."

Samus nodded. "I know. We have to stop the Emperor before he attacks Adam!" she panted.

The thought of what she had closest to a father, be crushed by the kriken like Lhikan was, filled her with dread. She added a spurt of speed, and raced down the hallway.

* * *

Ian picked himself up from the floor and wiped the blood that was trickling from the side of his mouth. "Weyna! How's the ship?" he yelled through the smoking and nearly destroyed ship.

A captain ran up to him. "Weyna's dead. His monitor blew up in his face. And half of the crew is dead. Report: The _Shooting Star _has lost 93% of its engine power. Only 2% of the guns remain, and the shield generators have been entirely destroyed."

"What happened to the _Razor Sun_?"

"I've lost radio contact with everyone excluding the survivors of the crew." He said. "But guessing that we weren't finished off, I suspect we've given her a hell of a beating."

Ian nodded. "Do you know our current location?"

The captain tapped away on a damaged computer. "I can't be sure, but I know that we're drifting away from the battle. What do we do?"

Ian bit his tongue, trying to keep himself from panicking entirely. Wondering what his brother would do at a time like this, he thought carefully.

Finally, he made his decision. "Tell the crew to put as much distance between the ship and the fight." He ordered. "When we're out of the kriken's range of fire, send everyone in escape pods, destination Atlanta."

The captain ran to give the crew the orders.

Ian, half blinded by the smoke, staggered towards the front window. Waving the smoke away, he tried to make out what was happening in space.

He saw some dogfights taking place, the cruisers blasting away at each other. But that was not what he was looking for.

He found it-or rather-them. The _Athena's Stand _was firing all its guns at a smaller corvette, breaking it apart, giving it no chance to retaliate. It moved towards the capital, covered by two other cruisers who were gliding next to it, keeping the other kriken ships at bay.

Looker farther-which was not easy-he could make out what remained of the _Razor Sun_. The giant flagship had been entirely pulverized, and was slowly floating away, completely dead by the deadly attack of the _Shooting Star_.

Ian took a couple of steps backwards, and turned to run out of the room towards one of the escape pods, when he crashed right into someone. The two people rolled down the damaged floor, before hitting a wall. "Ow…" Ian muttered, rubbing his head. "Who is this?"

"Sorry about that. I just received a message from Admiral Dane ordering us to remain in the surrounds of the battle. What do we do?"

Ian looked at the man, and thought madly. "Um…Stay just in the outer ring of the battle. Avoid fighting as much as possible."

The man nodded, and ran to give the orders.

Ian clenched his teeth. He seriously wanted to leave the battle. The _Shooting Star _was almost entirely destroyed, and was easy prey for the other ships. But he knew why Dane refused to have him flee. Even nearly entirely destroyed, the _Shooting Star_ still had a few Canion guns still usable, and it was the only ship that could receive the documents sent from the capital in the entire Federation Armada.

Ian felt his stomach churn as the corvette began to slowly circle the battlefield.

* * *

There was a chirp. Suddenly, the door erupted in a ball of flames. Krikens flew in all directions as two soldiers leaped through the door. One, wearing banned and stolen Galactic Federation armor, made an impressive twist, dodging all the Imperialist blasts fired by the krikens. Without wasting an instant, the bounty hunter activated his gun, and the Shock Coil began pouring out tons of electric-type bolts, which wrapped around the krikens, one after the other, killing in mere seconds.

Another human shot through the smoke. This one wore a Platoon 7 marine power suit. Firing his machine gun, it peppered the krikens with bullets, punching holes in their bodies.

Adam skidded to a halt, and turned around. "Looks like we've reached the Control Center." He said. His expressionless mask on, his voice completely dull.

Sylux simply ignored the statement and watched the room. "So, fearless leader, what's next?"

Adam ignored the sarcasm. "This…is weird."

Sylux looked around. He soon realized what the commander was talking about. The room was unnaturally dark, and very empty. Excluding a couple of krikens, there was no one.

He half raised his gun. He opened his mouth, when a huge explosion slammed into his back, throwing him forwards. He crashed against a set of chairs, and lay still, completely stunned by the blast.

Adam instantly whirled around, his gun raised, ready to fire. He found himself standing in front of a four armed kriken, who was twirling his blades around. "Ah. Adam Malkovich. One of the Leaders of the Galactic Federation. You shall make a good trophy for my nearing victory."

Adam raised his gun, and pulled the trigger.

It made a very unpleasant clicking sound.

"God no." He whispered, as he pulled his gun back, preparing to run.

The Emperor roared with laughter. "Shall we start you little deathbed?" He lunged at the defenseless Commander.

* * *

Samus ran as fast as she could, the fear of Adam falling like Lhikan did pushing her forward.  
Anthony raced right behind her, his plasma gun loaded, and aimed ahead of him, ready to blast down anything that stood in their way.

The two of them blasted a door open, and raced inside the room behind it which divided itself in two directions. Samus instantly decided to go left, hoping to reach another chamber or something of the sort.

The two of them hit a dead end.

Anthony growled, and leveled his plasma gun. "This thing's going down." He said, as he pulled the trigger.

The gun fired a thick greenish sphere of plasma, which smashed against the wall, pulverizing it entirely. When the smoke cleared, Samus instantly raised her arm canon, ready to blast down any kriken that opposed her.

The dust cleared.

Samus gasped.

The Emperor was swinging his four arms around, trying to knock down a person. The man jumped out of the way of the Imperialist blasts, and knocked the blades aside with his canon, which was now heavily damaged.

"ADAM!" Samus yelled.

The noise momentarily distracted the commander. He turned to se both Anthony and Samus standing there, watching the battle.

The Emperor wasted no time. Bringing one bladed arm crashing downwards, he made the attempt to cut the man in half.

Adam raised his gun just in time to intercept the weapon. Despite avoiding the worst, the momentum was strong enough to knock him off his feet and crush him onto the ground.

Samus raised her gun to blast the kriken off the commander, but there was a flash of blue light, and electricity seemed to surround the kriken.  
The Emperor roared with both anger and pain, and lunged at another man. This one was wearing blue armor with some glowing greenish lines. The man dodged easily, and continued to fire his barrage of the Shock Coil.

Samus gaped at Sylux. Since when was he on their side?

Without stopping his attack, Sylux tossed a box of cartridge filled with bullets at the commander. "Help me anytime woman." He snapped at Samus. "You too, fat man." He added to Anthony, who instantly dived into battle, firing his machine gun none-stop, but bullets simply hit the kriken's armor, causing no damage at all.

Samus raised her gun, and fired a barrage of Power Beams. The weapon was strong enough to dent the armor, but not enough to break it.

The Emperor spun his blades in complete circles, and began deflecting the Power Beams and Anthony's bullets in all directions.

Sylux leaped backwards to avoid a Power Beam. "WATCH IT!" he yelled.

Samus realized that she was only making things harder, and stopped shooting. Instead, she changed to her Super Missiles and looked at Adam for permission.

The commander finally managed to reload his gun with the new cartridges. He saw Samus was staring at him, and noticed why. He nodded. "Careful where you aim." He said.

Samus grinned, and fired a missile right at the Emperor's head. The missile made impact with a deafening explosion.

She rested her arm canon on her shoulder. "And the girl has to do everything as usual."

She heard Anthony through the smoke. 'Isn't that what girls are for? Working I mean."

There was a loud cough, followed by laughter.

"Enough with the jokes. He's not done yet." Adam said.

"FOOLS! DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT SUCH PETTY ATTEMPTS WILL KILL ME?" the Emperor roared.

"Well…I thought so…" Anthony admitted.

Without wasting a second, the kriken lunged at the man, ready to slice him in half. Just as it was about to cut him in half, Sylux tackled the soldier out of the way, causing the kriken's attack to hit the floor with a resonating '_Thang_'.

Adam raised his gun to shoot, but a very cheerful '_tchik_' came from it. The Commander's eyes went wide. "You gotta be kidding me!" he shouted at the broken gun in exasperation.

Samus would've thought that the scene would be funny if their lives weren't on the line.

The Emperor, still continuing his assault on Anthony and Sylux, pointed one of his guns at Samus, and fired an Imperialist beam.

Samus dodged it, and just when she was in mid-air, she saw a tiny gleam coming from the kriken's lower left shoulder.

She realized what it was.

**_FLASHBACK_**

_Lhikan dodged and slashed at the Emperor wildly. The kriken dodged with extreme ease._

_But just as the kriken moved out of the way, a tiny piece of Lhikan's blade penetrated the armor, and broke, remaining lodged there, unnoticed_

**_END OF FLASHBACK_**

"A piece of Zephyr?" she whispered. It hit her like a truck. Lhikan had died, but he had opened the front door to defeating the Emperor.

"SYLUX!" Samus yelled. "HIT THE LOWER LEFT SHOULDER!"

The bounty hunter dodged and jumped out of the way. When he was on the left side of the kriken, he watched the creature, wondering why Samus was asking to attack this precise location.

An explosion from space lit up the room entirely, and the tiny shard of Lhikan's suit deflected a part of the light, making it visible to all.

Sylux instantly jumped in. Samus had always known his great speed and agility, but she never saw him move like this.

Left, right, the blue armored man was a flash of lightning. The Emperor made desperate attempts to stop him, but Sylux was just too fast.

Even the emotionless, experienced and genius Adam was impressed.

When Sylux was at a body's length of the kriken, he slashed with his arm canon like it was a blade, and sunk it as deep as possible into the armor.

The Emperor screamed.

Everyone saw the tiny shard slowly dig its way in the body and armor. Carried by the momentum, it went through the flesh, the veins, and through the heart.

The Emperor fell over, dead.

* * *

The Galactic Federation Armada battled against the Kriken Empire's Fleet.

Dane gave orders to the Armada, as the Federation Cruisers engaged the Kriken Fleet, desperately trying to create a path to the capital.

"Get the _Pegasus _out of there!" he yelled in the mike. "Terrina! You don't stand a chance! Get the cruiser to the coordinates four-seven-twelve-one! The _Capricorn_ will help you!"

"But Ad-"

"No buts!" the admiral snapped violently. "Do it now before you get blown apart!" Dane instantly ended the connection, and turned to the crew behind him. "Have the _Athena's Stand_ engage the Kriken warship at three-oh-fourteen-ten. We need to get that thing down!"

The huge cruiser slowly turned to the respected coordinates, and headed towards a reddish-black warship was giving the _Sagittarius _a hard time. The krikens didn't seem to have noticed them, as the ship continued to fire at the_ Sagittarius_, slowly injuring the outer shields.

"Open Fire." Dane ordered.

The Warship never knew what hit it. The _Athena's Stand_ vomited a barrage of bolts, torpedoes, and missiles at the distracted enemy. The krikens had reinforced their shields at the front, in order to engage their former target with fewer difficulties. As a result, the blasts slammed into the weaker ones, which gave in almost instantly, leaving the hull completely vulnerable.

The ship was chewed apart. In mere moments, it was an explosion as bright as a supernova.

Dane nodded. He grabbed the mike. "ColonelQannik. You alight?"

He got an answer almost instantly. "Thanks for the help Admiral. Things were getting ugly." Qannik replied.

Dane nodded. He was about to order something, when his personal comm.. system went on. He heard Commander Adam's voice.

"Admiral Dane, I'm calling to tell you that the Emperor is dead." He stated. "The capital is completely vulnerable now."

Suddenly, a part of the planet erupted in a series of explosions. Dane twisted himself sideways to have a better look. "What's going on? The planet just suffered from an explosion." He asked fearing that the Commander and the remaining surviving members of Platoon 7 would be in for an unpleasant surprise.

"We're on our way to the battle. What you've just seen was a little token an…ally left behind."

Dane nodded. He noticed a small X-shaped ship shooting away from the dying planet and into the battle. He gaped. "Wait…Sylux?"

"Don't think I've forgiven you _Admiral_. I'm still looking forward to see you dead." The bounty hunter sneered.

Adam's voice could be heard again. "We've managed to make a temporary truce." He stated once again, his voice dull and emotionless. "No need to worry about him."

Dane nodded to himself. "All right. Listen, the _Shooting Star_ is out of commission. It's in orbit around the planet, a good distance from the battle. I'd like you to pick everyone up and get them to safety." He said.

"We're on our way." A voice which he recognized being Samus's answered.

The comm. System went out, and the blue ship shot out of the battle, towards the deep space where the heavily damaged corvette was limping.

Dane took a deep breath and refocused on the battle. He suddenly noticed something on his right. A huge surge of hope and confidence appeared within him.

The Kriken Fleet was completely unguided. And Admiral Dane had found a way to surround them and completely destroy them. He grabbed the mike.

"Okay, listen up leaders of the _Pegasus_ and the _Aries_. Take your cruisers to the coordinates seven-oh-three-oh. Leaders of the _Dragon_, the _Libra,_ and the _Cancer_, reach the coordinates twelve-seven-eight-one. _Aquarius, Zodiac, Leo _I want you all to get to the location one-seven-fourteen-twenty-three. The rest of you, hold your ground."

He ended his order

* * *

Ian allowed himself to catch his breath for a moment, before trying to open the escape pod.

A few surviving members of the crew were already inside, waiting for the mechanic/leader to enter.

Ian tried the escape code.

The computer exploded.

The crew groaned. "Now what?" Someone asked, fear laced in his voice.

Ian bit his lip hard. He had no idea what to do. The ship was dead, the escape pods were useless; what were they supposed to do?  
Footsteps were heard.

Everyone turned, grabbing the few weapons they had: one blaster for each. The footsteps came closer, and slowed down. Ian raised his gun, preparing to give the order to shoot.

The offending person stopped right outside the escape pod's door, safely hidden by the metal wall.

A metal hand crawled on the side, and then-

"Hey guys."

Ian didn't know what to do. He felt like beating Anthony to bits, and hugging him on the same time. He settled for a glare. "Don't do that again." He snapped. "Now how the hell did you get in here?"  
Anthony crossed his arms. "The docking bay. Then, I walked here. Samus is pretty freaked out for you. Adam…well I dunno. He's got his poker face on, impossible to know."

Ian nodded. He ordered the crew to get to the docking bay, knowing that there was a ship waiting to pick them all up. "How's Samus?"  
Anthony grinned. The fight had dug out most of his energy. He was tired. Why not tease his friend while he still could? "Don't worry. You'll be in your bed with her tonight."

Ian reddened. "Is this really the moment?" he pleaded.

Anthony laughed. "All right, I'll drop it. Just note that she's fine. She'll probably kill you for not telling the full truth about the battle." He said.

Ian rolled his eyes. "She _WILL_ kill me. But hey, the battle's almost done…right?"  
Anthony shrugged. "I dunno. It was still intense when we flew by…"

Ian broke into a run. "Then we gotta help them!" he shouted.

* * *

"Open Fire."

The Cruisers fired all their cannons at once. They're positions were exactly those Dane ordered moments ago.

The kriken fleet found itself surrounded, attacked in all directions, torn completely apart. They tried to break the circle, but it only allowed opened to more damage. Ships collided with one another, chaos ensued. Explosions took place all over the dying fleet. Krikens battled to the very end, thinking they were dying in an honorable way.

For the Emperor was dead. The great source of authority and evil that kept the Kriken Empire going was gone. And the power, no completely undirected, uncontrolled led only to three things.

Confusion.

Desperation.

Damp Fear.

And the Galactic Federation, smelling fear in their enemies, bombarded them with blasts that lit the cosmos. Their own determination being pushed by their victory that was just at hand, they didn't even care about their lives anymore.

The Kriken fleet was dying. It must be dead at all costs.

In his own, small ship, the blue armored bounty hunter watched the scene. He remembered the times when he too, fought in those battles. But those times were over.

He had saved the person who had always believed him.  
Sylux turned his ship, and flew away, finally convinced that his debt was repaid. His last thought was, before entering hyperspace, that he would honor his student's memory. He will train the children, and maybe dump-something he'll never forgive himself for-his grudge against the Federation.

Sylux, for the first time in years, smiled. He'll never understand the amazements of the galaxy.

* * *

Samus walked in the hallways of the Federation's HQ, thinking about the recent events.

Sylux had wandered off to who-knows-where. She knew she'd miss him, but at least she knew that he'd be all right.

Lhikan had been given a proper burial. Samus had decided to stick with his wish of protecting Zephyr, and ended up fusioning it with her Varia Suit. Her suit, still having the appearances of Varia, allowed much more agility, had Zephyr's glowing ability to light the dark and could also fly with her new jetpack. She hadn't thought of a new name yet. But maybe she'd stick with Varia.

Anthony had been promoted lieutenant. The guy got over the shock three days after the news. Samus remembered the moment when he had literally forgotten about his promotion, making a fool of himself in front of Adam. Fortunately for him, Adam had been alone, and had decided to keep this embarrassing episode to himself.

Adam was now-tricked by Keaton-an Admiral. He wasn't happy about that, Samus could tell, but he never complained, so the blond soldier guessed that he secretly wanted that job, but was too reserved to accept it casually.

Ian…when Samus and Anthony had played Lhikan's joke on him, he was so freaked out, it was great. The joke? They replaced his clothes with girl clothes. Ian was forced to wear his brother's old uniform. Adam seemed to enjoy the little joke, but wasn't happy about having to share his old uniform.

Other than that, Ian had tried, without success, to keep the _Shooting Star._ His brother had firmly refused.

Admiral Dane had decided to give the run for the elections to be the Chairman. Being a democracy, even the Chairman was elected. Keaton was reaching the end of his mandate. But despite Dane's motivation, Keaton was still the favorite. Samus wished the Admiral good luck.

Samus looked out the window. The majestic view of Daiban made her smile. The Galactic Federation had suffered from the fight. Three cruisers had been lost, and a large number of soldiers had been killed. They had all been honored with a memorial on Daiban.

Sadly, they hadn't been able to completely destroy the Kriken Empire. A piece of the fleet managed to escape, and was trying to rebuild itself with its remaining territorial possessions. But the Empire had suffered in unimaginable ways. Whether they had survived or not, Samus knew that they wouldn't able to be a serious threat again.

An arm threw itself around her shoulders, making her jump out of her reverie.

Ian was giving her a boyish grin. "Hey Samus. Wanna crash at my place tonight?"

Samus rolled her eyes. Another thing about Ian-he seriously lacked the discretion. "Yeah, yeah. I'll see you there. Make sure Adam doesn't have the keys" she said.

Ian winked at her. He pulled out of his pocket and began twirling the keys in his fingers. "Count on me." He released the girl when Adam's heavy footsteps could be heard. "What's up Adam? Need my intelligence?"

Adam stared at him, then at Samus. The girl noticed the barely visible message he was sending her. '_What have you two done this time?_' Samus simply shrugged.

"Two things Ian. One, if I needed your help I would've asked for it. And two, if you have any intelligence, why don't you use it for once?" he said dully.

Samus winced. Looks like Adam still didn't like his brother around her.

Ian grinned. "Well, if you need me, just call!" he walked away.

Adam turned to face Samus. His features suddenly relaxed. "Samus really, why is he so happy?"

The blond soldier grinned. "He must have gotten some good news." She said.

Adam gave her a hard look. "I'll be keeping an eye on you." He stated. "Don't even go near my quarters."

Samus nodded, not daring to look at him in case her face betrayed her. She heard him sigh, and walk away.

* * *

Samus found herself underneath Ian, who was busy kissing her. "You…" she gasped as Ian started kissing her neck. "Sure Adam won't" she was silenced by Ian lips.

"I got the keys." He grinned. "And screw him. He can sleep in his office on his chair for once." He said. He kissed her.

Samus brought her arms around his neck, and began to deepen the kiss. After a few seconds of pure bliss, she began to feel the need for air. She loathed her lungs who were now screaming for air.

They both broke the kiss. "I sure hope you're right. Or else he'll blast you for doing what we're doing." Samus snuggled against his shoulder. She moaned contently, and stayed there, Ian's arms wrapped tightly around her. She wished this moment wouldn't end.

* * *

When Samus woke up, she was instantly aware of Ian still sleeping on top of her. She was also aware of a small light on the desk gently lit. Samus turned her head to see who it was.

She made a tiny gasp, and tried to hide deeper in Ian's sleeping body.

Adam, without looking away from his document, spoke. "Samus, I know you're awake. Quit pretending."

Samus tried to pull herself away from under Ian, but the man was too heavy, so she just lay still. She managed to get her voice going again. "H-how did you get in?" she asked.

Adam wrote something on the document. "Through the front door about ten minutes ago. It's close to midnight. Ian didn't lock it." He said.

Samus reddened. She sometimes really couldn't believe Ian's lack of attention. She waited the heavy end of the hammer to fall. It didn't. Adam was still reading his documents, twirling his pen once in a while. "Um…Adam? Are you angry?"

Adam stopped what he was doing and looked at her for the first time in the night. He thought a moment before answering. "Quite frankly, I'm not. And if you're thinking that I'm planning on embarrassing you, I won't. I'll wait till Ian is awake. If you want, I'll spare you."

Samus reddened. It wasn't easy to build up a conversation when your friend's brother was sleeping on top of you. "Um…Adam? There's something that has been bothering me for a while."

"What?"

"Um…Sylux said that you were…reluctant to send me to help the Chozo. Is it true?"

Adam lowered his document, and dropped his pen on the table. His poker face was flipped back on, his expressions unreadable once again. "When you enlisted, I received a personal message from Old Bird. It said that I needed to protect you, even if it meant their lives. I wanted to stick with their wish. You were naïf and stubborn. It was hard to keep you, and eventually I had no choice but to let you." He said.

Samus waited. "This…there is more right?"

"You had a…well lovey dobey adventure going on with Ian. I didn't want to see you risk it."

Samu gasped. "So you aren't against us being together!"

Adam shot her a glare. "Tell me lady, what do you find so amazing in my brother?"

Samus blushed. "He's handsome, smart, sweet, and maybe a little dense too." She said.

Adam snorted. "You sound like my mom." He said. "How about a real pain when it comes to ideas? The _Shooting Star_? Remember when you just met? He called himself the Black Falcon? Those were my ideas. I invented them when we were kids."

Samus buried her head in Ian's shoulder, trying to hide the smile on her face. "Adam?"

"Go to sleep Samus. It's late." He said.

The hybrid obeyed. She slowly began to realize how it was to have a father. Adam really filled in that role.

She closed her eyes.

This was perfect.

**TA DAAA! HOPE YOU'RE SATISFIED! AND REVIEW! REVIEWS MAKE ME HAPPY!**


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